Chapter 6
A week later, we sit with Dr. Johnson to review my biopsy results. They confirm our worst fears.
She sits beside me, her kind eyes brimming with compassion. “I know this is a shock, but we caught this early. That’s good news.”
Cancer. Cancer. Cancer.
Cancer. Cancer. Cancer.
Cancer. Cancer. Cancer.
Cancer. Cancer. Cancer.
My thoughts race, refusing to accept the news.
“What about the baby?” Noodles shifts in his seat. He draws his hands inward, fingers clasped, and rocks back and forth.
“There are treatment options.” Dr. Johnson tries to explain. “Many women go on to have healthy pregnancies after breast cancer.”
When she outlines the treatment plan, all I hear are terrifying words—Surgery. Chemotherapy. Radiation. Each word is a separate blow, stealing my breath to leave me gasping. I clutch my rounded belly, the reality of the situation sinking in. I’m not just fighting for my life but for the life growing inside me.
Cancer is an insidious beast. It will not simply go away because it’s inconvenient. It does not rest or sleep. Even now, malignant cells are spreading through my body, invading healthy tissue, destroying everything in their path.
Harming my baby?
Noodles takes my hand and kisses my knuckles.
“What do we do?” His voice is hoarse but steady.
“We’ll schedule surgery as soon as possible and go from there.” Dr. Johnson’s grim smile is hard to take and I don’t dare try to read her expression.
We’re not the first people to face this under her care. I want to ask her how those other patients did, but also terrified of what she’ll say.
“When?” I have too much to fight for to let fear drive me. My baby, Noodles, Kai, and myself deserve a shot at the future. “When do we start?”
“It’ll take a week or more to schedule the surgery.” Dr. Johnson does her best to remain calm, but what does she have to worry about?
She doesn’t have cancer.
As we leave the hospital, I rest my head on Noodles’s shoulder, the image of our baby waving on the ultrasound screen etched in my mind. My baby is innocent and helpless. He or she needs me to stay strong.
This is what I’m fighting for. A future where I hold our newborn child in my arms, watch Kai develop into a man, and grow old with Noodles.
I’m going to fight—Fight like a girl—and I’m going to win.