For those of you who are still following this story , here is an update…
Rachel crawled up on the table . Her arms were shaking as she got into place. Dr. Cannon began the procedure and the nurse steadied her as she laid on the cushion. She had now been on chemo for at least six months. They were doing a biopsy to see if it had spread or if the chemo was working. She thought hard of her six month journey and how much support she had on the way.
"We're done." Dr. Cannon put a bandaid over the section and then handed it to her nurse. The nurse took the tissue sample and then put it in a vile with the word "Geller." She put it into a envelope and then called for a messenger.
"How long before I will know?" Rachel said as the doctor helped her up from the table.
"Shouldn't be too long. I 'll call you with the results. At best twenty four hours." She said trying to make her more confident. Rachel put her sweater over her freezing arms. The weight loss had made Rachel almost look like she was in a prison camp. Her skin just hung on her bones at this point. She looked down at the hollowed out lump and then touched it to make sure it wasn't going to fall off as well.
"Well?" Ross said as he took her skinny arms and helped her along into the hallway of the medical center. "We'll know." She said mocking the doctor. He took her hand and then he rubbed it , in the hope of heating up her ice cold skin. Doctors are very funny people. They use words like we'll see or won't be long. Ross wondered if real doctors ever had to endure waiting for the results of biopsies or blood counts like they had in the past months. He hadn't done as many medical things when Rachel was pregnant as when she had been diagnosed. Her temperature had to be monitored, her wound had to be cleaned, she had to take her meds and make sure that when her immune system was down, she wouldn't be exposed to any germs. When that happened, he sent the kids to his parents and he himself walked around the house with a surgical mask on. Rachel had to laugh, she said he reminded her of one of the doctors on ER or Gray's Anatomy.
"Hungry?" he said . "I bet you could go for a nice Italian dinner or even some pizza afterwards." Ross looked down at his wife and her body. She never had a fat body, always very sexy to him. Now she was barely at one hundred pounds. He desperately wanted to have the sexy glamorous woman he had before back. Whenever he could feed her something without getting sick, he welcomed that day. They walked into the restaurant and then after ordering, Rachel got sick again. With a promise she would eat later, he had their dinners packed up to go home. Ross just shook his head.
Talking to the Dean at his school gave him an idea to get some nutrition into Rachel. She said if he didn't do something soon, they would have to admit her and feed her intravaneously. The last thing he wanted was to come home to a wife being fed with a tube as she read a story to her children. So Ross went to the store and bought a nutritional supplement for her to drink.
"God ! That's terrible." Rachel said as she sipped from the can. "Can't you do something to it?" she pushed the almost full can back to him. "I feel like I am an eighty year old woman with this stuff." She whined and then began to pout. Ross went to the kitchen and then put the supplement in the blender with some ice cream.
"Here you go, a milkshake." Ross said handing her the glass. Rachel sipped it again and this time she drank the whole thing down. It worked.
It had now been five hours since Rachel left the doctors. She laid in bed as she looked over at the clock.
"I don't think they are calling tonight. Why don't you roll over and I will rub your back.?" Ross said as she turned over onto her stomach. As he rubbed , he was careful not to disturb the catheter or the site of the surgery. He felt like all he was doing was rolling pieces of skin between his fingers. Rachel rested her head on her hands and voiced her contentment.
"Maybe you should have been a masseuse? Given Phoebe a run for her money." She smiled at the joke.
"That good huh?" he smiled. "Well I have been thinking of a career change." She loved his laugh. Now she wanted to be cute. "Aw, wouldn't you miss the dinosaurs?" she cooed. Now they were looking at each other face to face and almost ready when suddenly they heard a tiny voice.
"Daddy!" it said . At that moment, Ross leaped from the bed and Rachel rolled over and closed her eyes.
Emma was shaking in her bed and crying . She was holding on to her stuffed dinosaur for dear life. "What's wrong sweetie?" he said as he picked her up. He was used to having to be the strength in the house. The whole cliché about being the man. He couldn't be the sweet , wimpy one since the diagnosis, he had to be the man. Now he had to be the tender father figure.
"I had a dream that a big monster came up and took mommy away. " she cried. Ross had to admit the insight of a child was right on the money, that was exactly what had happened. At support group, they learned that the children would have it enter their thoughts as well. One time, the kids were asked to draw what they thought cancer looked like. Emma drew a big hairy monster with teeth and fangs.
He picked her up and walked back into their bedroom. Rachel was sound asleep. "See no big bad monster got her. There's mommy and she is sleeping like you should be." Ross said to Emma. With a quick kiss and a reassuring smile, Emma laid down after she was tucked in.
Do you want me to sing your special song so you'll sleep?" Ross asked. Emma nodded her head. He couldn't believe this was the only thing to make her sleep. "I like big butts and I cannot lie. You other brothers can't deny. When a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face." He sang and before he knew it, Emma was fast asleep.
It was now eight hours later, Rachel sat with a cup of coffee and trying to force it down. Her head was wrapped in a scarf as she watched the Today Show. Joey was talking to Meredith Viera about how serious he was involved in the fight against breast cancer. He then had a tear come to his eye as he talked about a dear friend who was battling it right now. That is what made him want to be more involved as a celebrity in the fight.
She kept looking at the phone and wishing it would ring. She also secretly dreaded that call. It could also be the worst news she could have. That the drugs were not working and the cancer had spread. The call could be her death sentence. There was a note in his childish scrawl that Rachel should call him when she got the news. He didn't care if he was in front of a class of students or in a faculty meeting, he wanted and needed to know because she was an extension of him.
The students worked on their exams as the professor watched the clock. He could let them think that their tests were the first thing on his mind. At least when he was grading them, he would have something to occupy his mind from the waiting or watching the phone.
"Time." Ross announced as the students handed in their papers as they left the room. One girl came up and pushed a paper in front of Ross. She was wearing a shirt with the words Kappa Kappa Gamma Dance for the Cure. He looked down at the paper and then made a pledge.
"My wife was a Kappa, so I have to pledge some money or she will never forgive me.' Ross smiled. The girl had a sincere look. "I met your wife and she had to be the most stylish and classiest lady I had ever met. That's why I wanted us to do this as our philanthropic project. Every one knows someone .' she said .
He nodded. "Yes , everyone knows someone." He looked at the clock again.
The doctor took the paper from the technician and studied it. She had to make absolutely sure before she made the call. Handing it to the nurse, she put on her glasses so she could see the neat typing on it. Looking through the file , she pulled up the number and then began to dial it. The sound of the chirping broke the silence causing little Izzy to wake from her nap. Running to get the phone, she saw the caller ID and snatched it from its cradle. Cradling the phone on one shoulder and feeding the baby from her breast, she could only mumble and nod her head. Holding her baby, she pushed the speed dial and then she gave him the news.
They were all sitting around , eating, talking, and just being with each other. They had forgotten what each other had meant to each of them and this disease was just the reminder they needed. Chandler grabbed the phone and then he stood with no expression on his face. Monica knew what the call was about. She got up and stood over him with every uh huh and hmm. Hanging it up, he turned to the others and then breathed a sigh of relief.
"She 's in remission. The cancer has not spread." Suddenly the silence had broken to whoops and cheers. As for Ross, he couldn't wait to leave today and give the woman he loved a big kiss. It looked like she was going to be around for a long time.