A/N: Here's the next chapter! It picks up immediately after the events of chapter 7 and covers how Josh and Donna break the news to their kids, as well as her first doctor's appointment. Hope you enjoy, please read and review!
Chapter 8: Caught It Just In Time
"It's malignant." The doctor had said over the phone as gently as she could.
Malignant? Donna thought. But that's cancer.
The word "cancer" reverberated in her head. She had breast cancer.
This wasn't supposed to happen to her. She was 50 years old, always healthy and active; no family history, no nothing. She had four children who needed her. She had just been sworn in as a US Representative, so she had a whole district depending on her. This wasn't fair.
Donna's thoughts were louder than her doctor's voice on the other end of the phone. Somehow, she agreed to meet with an oncologist the next morning (referred by Dr. Corwin, who had consulted with the oncologist and gotten them an appointment with him ASAP) to determine their next steps. She hung up, feeling as though she were trapped in a nightmare.
She had breast cancer.
Her hand holding her cell phone was shaking uncontrollably. It slipped from her fingers and fell on the floor with a thud, bringing her back to reality.
Donna's body began to break down into heaving sobs. She felt Josh wrap his arms around her tightly.
"I know you're scared. I am, too. But we're gonna get through this together. You're never gonna be alone, I promise you."
Donna nodded against his chest. "I know." She leaned back onto the couch, wiping her eyes. "Dr. Corwin wants us to meet with an oncologist tomorrow morning to establish care and to talk about our options."
"She won't be treating you herself?"
"It's out of her scope of practice."
"Okay, well, I guess if you have to go through this, you should at least have the best care and the best doctors, right?"
"Yeah." She swallowed hard, squeezing his hand. "How are we gonna tell the kids?"
"We sit them down and talk to them about what this is going to mean. You'll probably have to have surgery, and maybe some treatment afterward."
"God, what if I have to have chemo?" Donna worried. "I'm a freshman representative. I can't exactly take a leave of absence in my first term."
"Well, let's not worry about that until we have to," Josh said comfortingly. "The most important thing right now is telling our kids and everyone else in our lives."
"Okay. Do you want to talk to them individually, or all together?"
"It's your call, honey."
Donna mulled it over. "I'd rather talk to them individually if that's all right. That way, if they have questions, they can ask."
"Okay. Sounds good."
She sighed. "I need to call Annabeth. I promised her I'd call her when I got the results."
Josh nodded. "I'll leave you alone so you can talk to her. I need some air anyway."
He walked out onto the porch, taking in the crisp January air. He took a breath, the thoughts swimming in his head and threatening to compete with the sirens in his head. Why Donna? Why now, when things were finally normal in their lives?
Hitting the porch rail with one hand, he began to cry.
…
Abby and Anna could tell something was wrong from the minute they walked into the house after school. They knew their mom might be feeling off after her procedure, but something else was wrong. There was an undercurrent of emotion that told them, especially Abby, that something else was amiss.
That evening, Abby had barely started her chemistry homework when there was a knock on her door.
"Hey," Donna said with Josh behind her. "Can we talk?"
Abby shrugged. "Sure."
Donna sat down on her daughter's bed and Josh sat on her other side.
"What's wrong?" Abby asked immediately.
Donna took a deep breath. Abby was their intuitive child, always suspecting when something wasn't right. "Honey...I have something I need to tell you. Um, there's no real easy way to tell you this, so I'm just gonna say it. I have breast cancer."
Abby's face fell. Her hands went slack and her eyes filled with tears. "Wh-what?"
"I have breast cancer," Donna repeated gently.
"Cancer?" Abby whispered. "How?"
"I don't know," Donna admitted. "I've been trying to come up with a good answer to that question all day."
"Are you going to die?"
"No! Absolutely not." Donna hugged her daughter close. "This is treatable cancer, and I intend to survive."
"Will you need a...what's it called, when they remove your breast?"
"A mastectomy?"
Abby nodded.
"Probably not, since it's small, but we're meeting with the doctor tomorrow, so they can tell us more. They're pretty sure they caught this early."
"Can I come with you?"
Donna looked at Josh. Under the circumstances, it seemed important that they include Abby and let her ask questions.
"I don't see why not," Donna answered. "And you know if you have any questions, or want to talk, you can always talk to me or your dad."
Abby nodded. "Anna probably won't want to...but I want to."
"Okay," Donna said, looking at Josh. One down, three to go.
Anna was next, and Donna could tell she was in shock.
"No."
"Yes," Josh told her. "It's true. Your mom has breast cancer."
She stood up and immediately ran to the bathroom. Donna could hear her throwing up, and shared a worried glance with Josh.
A few minutes later, Anna came back into the room.
"Sorry." She told them.
"Don't be," Donna reassured her. "This is a big deal, and it's upsetting. But know this-we are going to get through this as a family, all right?"
Anna nodded. "Some life, huh? I get pregnant, you get elected to Congress, and then you get cancer."
"I didn't choose to get cancer, baby," Donna said. "It just happened."
"I know that!" Anna snapped. She sighed. "Just answer me one question."
"Anything," Donna replied.
"Will you be there when this baby's born?"
"Nothing would keep me away from that, I promise. You know, your sister wants to go with us to my appointment tomorrow. Do you want to come too?"
Anna shook her head. "I'm not ready."
"Okay," Donna reassured her. "That's OK. Just know the option's open if you want."
"I didn't...cause this, did I? That sounds really stupid, but…"
"No, it's not," Donna said firmly. "This was not your fault. Do you understand? You didn't do anything to cause this."
"This isn't your fault." Josh reiterated.
"Okay," Anna said. "Can I be alone now?"
"Yeah, sure," Donna replied. She kissed Anna's temple. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
Matty's reaction was probably the quietest. He sat there, not saying a word, as Donna explained to him what she had told his sisters. The 14-year-old appeared not to take it in at first, but quietly asked, "Are you gonna die?"
"No!" Donna said immediately. "I'm not gonna die. I'm gonna be fine, all right?"
"We're gonna get through this, bud," Josh added, putting a hand on Matty's shoulder.
"Will you need chemo?"
"I don't know yet. Your dad and I are gonna extend the same offer to you as we did to your sisters. Would you like to go with us to my appointment tomorrow, so you can ask questions?"
Matty shrugged. "I don't want to miss school. But can I talk to you after school?"
"You got it," Donna said. She pulled him to her and kissed his hair. "You know how much I love you, right?"
"I know, Mom," Matty replied. "I love you too."
"And things might change for a while, but...your dad and I, we're gonna be here for you, okay?"
"Okay." He pulled away slightly, and Josh and Donna could both see that he wanted to be left alone, so they left.
That left Leo. Donna knew that they needed to be as delicate as possible, especially considering his age and delayed ability to comprehend things.
Donna opened Leo's bedroom door to reveal Leo coloring at his desk.
"Hi, Mom." He said as they walked in. "Hi, Dad."
"Hey, sweetheart." Donna greeted. "Why don't you come to sit with Dad and me on the bed, so we can talk?"
Leo nodded and joined them, sitting between his parents. "Am I in trouble?"
"No, baby," Donna assured him. "You're not in trouble. Dad and I just have something we need to talk to you about, that's all."
"What's going on?" Leo asked.
"Well," Donna began, "you know how I went to the hospital today so I could have some tests done?"
Leo nodded.
"It turns out that I'm sick."
His brow furrowed. "What do you mean you're sick? You don't look sick."
"I may not look sick, but my body is sick. I have an illness called cancer. Do you know what that is?"
Of course, he shook his head no. Donna reached for Leo's hand. "In the body, there are millions and millions of tiny objects called cells. Cells make you grow strong and healthy, and they each have a special job to do to make your body work right. But sometimes, there are bad cells that don't grow right that can divide and grow really fast. When there are too many of those cells, that's called cancer. My type of cancer is right here in my chest," she indicated her breast, "and it's formed a group of the bad cells called a tumor."
Leo had a blank look on his face. Donna wasn't sure just how much he was processing. Finally, he asked, "Can I catch it?"
"No, baby, no," Donna reassured him. "It's not like a cold or a sore throat. You can't catch cancer."
"Who will take care of me?" Leo asked worriedly. "If Mom's sick, who's gonna take me to school? And Boy Scouts? And put me to bed at night?"
"I'll do a lot of those things, buddy," Josh told him. "If there's one good thing about this, it's that I'm already retired, so I can take care of you kids and your mom, and make sure you guys have everything you need. And if there are times when I'm helping your mom, then we can talk to your friends and see if they can drive you places or look after you."
"Okay," Leo replied.
"Do you have any other questions?" Donna prompted him.
"What will happen now?"
"Dad and I are gonna meet with the doctor tomorrow, so we can find out what we need to do to help me get better."
"Can I still go to school if you're sick?"
"Yes, of course you can. Our first goal is to get me better. Our second goal, though, is to make sure that you guys don't miss out on any of your school or outside activities, make sure your lives are as normal as possible. Does that make sense?"
He nodded.
"Anything else?" Josh asked. At Leo's fervent head shake, Donna kissed him and said, "Well, you know your dad and I are here if you want to talk some more."
"Okay," Leo said.
The pair smiled at Leo and left his room. All in all, they felt, their children had taken it well under the circumstances. There was still some question as to their long-term feelings, but Josh and Donna felt they were ready to handle anything.
…
The next morning dawned quickly. Josh and Donna, after a quick breakfast, left with Abby for the medical plaza downtown where the doctor's office was.
"I'm really glad you decided to come with us, Abby," Donna told her as they walked to the elevators. "I think it's important that you should be able to ask all the questions you want."
"Is it bad that I'm the only one who came?"
"No, absolutely not," Donna said, hugging her. "Your sister and brothers, they'll come around."
After only a few minutes, the receptionist called the three of them back to the office. They had barely sat down when there was a knock on the door.
An unfamiliar male doctor entered.
"Mrs. Lyman? My name is Dr. Michael Phillips. I'll be your oncologist."
"Hi, Dr. Phillips, nice to meet you." Donna greeted, shaking his hand. "I'm Donna Lyman, this is my husband Josh, and our daughter Abby."
"Mrs. Lyman, it's very nice to meet you. Is it all right if I call you Donna?"
"Yes, that's fine," Donna said, nodding. Indicating Abby, she said, "Is it all right if she stays so she can ask questions if she wants?"
"That's absolutely fine." Dr. Phillips. "The more people who know how best to help you, the better. Abby, you're the oldest?"
Abby nodded. "I have a twin sister, a 14-year-old brother, and a 10-year-old brother."
"All right, then." Dr. Phillips replied. "So, from the mammogram and ultrasound your doctor performed before the biopsy, it looks as if your lesion is small, and we caught it just in time."
"That's a relief," Donna said.
"However, we probably won't be able to classify it in a stage until after we perform surgery to remove it."
"So, what you're saying is you won't be able to tell what stage it's in until you remove it?" Josh asked.
"Yes." Dr. Phillips replied. "But as I said, based on the scans, I'd say you're in late stage 1, or possibly early stage 2."
Abby raised her hand. "What does that mean?"
"That's a good question. So, stage 0 is when the cancer is non-invasive, such as in a very small part of the breast. Stage I is where the cancer is very small, about 2 cm in diameter, and may or may not have cells in the lymph nodes. Stage IIA is where the cancer is between 2 and 5 cm and has spread to the lymph nodes surrounding the breast. Stages III and IV are where the cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body, which I do not believe is the case with your mother."
"Okay, thank you," Abby replied.
"Now, what would you recommend as far as treatment?" Donna asked.
"The first step would be surgery. Now, I know you're a busy woman, so I would recommend a lumpectomy, which has a shorter recovery time, and for which you are an excellent candidate. I don't think we need to be overly aggressive with a mastectomy just yet."
"What's a lumpectomy?" Josh wanted to know.
"A lumpectomy is just what it sounds like. We remove the lump and a little of the surrounding tissue. We'll also take a biopsy of the lymph nodes under ]the arm to see if the cancer has spread there."
"When would we need to do this?" Donna asked.
"I can work you in on Tuesday morning at 8."
"That soon? I thought you usually had to wait weeks between diagnosis and surgery."
" Well, after that, my surgery calendar is booked up for about a month or so, and you probably want to wait that long. I think the sooner we get the surgery part over with, the sooner you'll be able to get back to your normal life."
"Dr. Phillips? What if it has spread to her lymph nodes?" Abby asked.
"Then, we'll need to explore further treatment, most likely chemotherapy."
"And if it hasn't spread?" Donna spoke up.
"All we'll need to do are a couple of local radiation treatments to make sure we got everything."
"What side effects will I have with radiation?"
"You'll likely be more tired than usual, and have some skin irritation near the site."
"And with chemo?"
"Chemo has a more systemic reaction because it can also affect normal, fast-growing cells-nausea and vomiting, fatigue, skin changes, problems with concentration, and of course hair loss."
"I'm pretty sure I know what chemo is, but what does radiation therapy do?" Abby wanted to know.
"Radiation therapy is where we use external beams, like through X-rays, to deliver a specific dose to where the tumor is." He replied patiently. "Donna, do you have any questions about your treatment options?"
"No, it all sounds pretty straightforward to me," Donna replied. "Um, what about work?"
"You'll be able to go back to work probably the week after surgery. Now, I will say that if it turns out you need chemo, we will do the first round in-house, just to see how you react to it and if we need to adjust your meds. After that, it can be outpatient."
"Okay. Well, thank you so much." Donna said, relieved. "I feel a lot better."
"So do I." Abby chimed in.
"Good." He said. "I'm glad I was able to answer all your questions and be of help. I really do think we caught it early. It's just a matter of how early."
"Thank you." They all said. They shook hands and they left.
The three of them left the office feeling as if the world had been lifted off their shoulders. It would be a hard road, but the six of them would get through it as a family.
A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. Next will be the Congressional staff's reaction, as well as her surgery day. Let me know what you thought!
