"Chemotherapy," Dr. Freedman explained, "Is really the only thing I'm recommending. We start with phase one, induction. Our goal here is to kill off all of the bad cells. This is about a month of fairly intense treatment. I have to warn you, he's going to be a different kid until we lessen the chemo. He'll probably lose his hair, he'll become very pale, maybe slightly yellow, and he'll be tired and uncomfortable all the time. I can assure you, though, that it'll b worth it when this time next year, he's running around playing with those two little girls. "
Angela lip quivered as she let a few tears, "Will we be able to see him?" Angela asked.
"Due to your pregnancy, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be near him. You can see him through the glass, but I would rather you not be in the room with him considering you're both high-risk patients," Dr. Freedman said, "If one of you were to get sick, the other would get it without a doubt, so I think it would be in both of your best interests to remain separated for the duration of Michael's chemotherapy."
Angela started to cry again. With the amount of crying she'd done in the past few months, she wondered how she had any tears left.
"Hey, Ange," Jack soothed, "I'll be in there, and I can give him enough love for the both of us. It's gonna be okay, babe. You'll be able to see and talk to him, just no skin to skin for a little while. It's gonna be okay. I promise, baby. It's gonna be okay."
Dr. Freedman gave Angela time to collect herself before she continued, "After this first phase, we go into phase two, consolidation. We're going to give him a bunch of different medicines to kill any abnormal cells that might be lingering," She paused for a second and then continued, "at this point in time, your girls will probably already have been born. I strongly suggest saving their cord blood. We can extract stem cells from it to give to Michael, which will greatly improve his chance at remission."
"Okay, let's do it then. How do we-" Angela was cut off by Jack, "Slow down, Ange, what if we use it for Michael, and the girls need it someday? What will we do then?"
She glared at him.
"We can't save it for a 'what if' when we have a child who needs it in the moment!" Angela yelled.
"I'm just saying, maybe we should think about this a little more, you know? Rather than just being so impulsive..."
"Yeah, and while we're thinking about it, Michael is going to die. Is that what you want? And then when the girls don't ever need it, how will you feel then?"
"Relax, Ange. I was just making a suggestion. If you think we should use it for Michael, then I am 100% on board."
Angela sighed and silently apologized.
"Well, now that you've made that decision… we still have one more phase of the chemo to discuss, " Dr. Freedman said, "We'll do one more 2-3 month blast of medication to make sure we killed everything, and then we'll check up on him every few months for a few years. If he's still in remission at that point, we can put this in the past. Any questions?''
"Just one," Angie said, "When can we start?"