Chapter 11: Lab Results.

In his office, they watched Dr. Granderson fiddle with his desktop computer. “Sorry, folks, this damn thing has more arthritis than I do. Alright, here we go. Jan Elson, age 26, OK.

“Let me check one more screen.”

He turned away, then took off and wiped his glasses.

“Oh, this is never easy.”

Heather’s eyes became saucers. Her hands started shaking.

“We will have to confirm this with a scan, and possibly a biopsy. But, Mr. Elson, you have Liver Cancer.”

Screaming, Heather buried her face in Jan’s chest.

“How, how can you be so sure?”

“There’s no other possible explanation for these lab results. Even heavy drinking wouldn’t cause what I’m seeing here. I’ve been a hepatologist for 40 years, Jan, these labs are unequivocal.”

“So, what’s to be done?”

“We need your wife to hear this. Heather, Heather, please, come back to us, we can help your husband. We can.”

“I’m listening, Doctor. Sorry.”

“I’m admitting him immediately. He can go on the medical floor while I arrange for a CT scan and ultrasound.”

“Sorry to interrupt, Doctor, but he has top-level medical coverage beyond the military’s plan, he needs a private room.”

“Fine, I’ll arrange that, then. So, the scans should show the tumor’s location. Then we get Doctor Subramaniam to remove it. I think she’s the best surgeon between Dallas and Albuquerque, and she’s his best chance at getting the damn thing out completely.

“Fortunately, I think this kind of tumor will have good margins and she can make an effective and complete excision. You’re still with me, Heather? You’re looking a little shaky.”

“Doctor, he’s everything to me. I cannot imagine life without him. But I hear what you’re saying.”

“Here are our next steps. We do need to move quickly. If the tumor cannot be cleanly removed, he will need to start on immediate platinum chemotherapy. That stuff is poisonous, he would get really sick, as in, hair falling out, vomiting, the whole thing. In the face of that misery, he would need your total support.

“We have to stop the tumor in its tracks before it takes too much of his irreplaceable liver tissue. The images will show us how much damage is in his liver. Heather! Stay with us. He needs you.

Her face was ghostly white, her hands were still shaking.

“I’m here, Doctor. Jan, do you have any questions?”

“Just one. What are my chances?”

“To be honest, I don’t have enough information. Everything turns on the scans you are about to have. If the tumor is small, and in a good location, you could have as high as a 90% chance of complete full recovery and a normal lifespan.

“If the tumor is poorly located, and large and diffuse, the chances are very poor, perhaps 10%.

“Because Heather jumped on this right away at the first symptom, the jaundice in your eyes, I have a really good feeling about your case. Put simply, this cancer hasn’t had enough time to spread too far and get really bad.

“On the other hand, to be completely honest, you are way too young to have this cancer. We have to wait to see the scans to know more. I promise, you’re my top priority case.

“Be strong for Heather. She loves you. Ah, I see they are here to take you downstairs. You’ll see me again soon, Jan.”

[Author’s note: Your author has no medical background, and makes many assumptions that are certainly unlikely and/or false. Jan Elson is an invented person having an imaginary cancer in an unrealistic hospital. Consider anything that follows and just happens to match reality, as being accidentally true. Apologies to any actual victims of Liver Cancer.]