LA Gang (Book 2)

8. New treatments

8. New treatments

Matt has now started a new treatment to fully get rid of his cancer. Dr. Hayes wants to do some tests on him to monitor his process, but not before today's chemo that Matt and Scott have today. Nurse Amy entered the boys' room to wake them up for their treatment.

"Time to wake up boys!" the nurse said opening the curtains and letting the sunlight get into the room. Both boys started stirring and waking up though it was hard because they love to sleep.

"It's too early," Matt complained.

"It's 7 am. Your treatment starts at 9. You eat breakfast and then we'll take you to the room. Matt, tomorrow you have scans," Nurse Amy said and Matt groaned.

After breakfast, Scott and Matt were taken to the chemotherapy room and hooked up to their respective medicines. Scott was the one who started the conversation to entertain them for a bit.

"What's your new treatment about?"

"A new drug to completely get rid of it. All I know is that is not as bad as the ones they used to give me."

"Nice, so it means that everything's going as planned?"

"Yes, thankfully it is. Um...you never really told me why you need the O2 at night," Matt said and Scott sighed, he didn't want to talk about it.

"I am lacking red blood cells, in other words, my blood is low on oxygen. I need the tank at night because it is when my levels go down and I barely breathe," Scott answered honestly, he wanted to tell Matt sooner rather than later anyway.

"Who knows about this?"

"Mitch and my parents. I was planning on telling everybody tonight before bed," Scott answered.

"So...does this mean-" Matt said after a while.

"Can we talk about something else, please," Scott snapped and Matt just nodded. Neither of them talked for the rest of the session.

It was almost bedtime when Scott, Mitch, and Matt were meeting in Scott and Matt's room, waiting for Kirstie and Kevin when a nurse came in and checked on the boys before going to bed. The nurse put Scott's cannula on while Mitch and Matt watched. When Kirstie and Kevin came in, they were surprised to see Scott with a cannula on.

"Why are you wearing that?" Kevin asked.

"My blood is low on oxygen. I need it at night," Scott answered simply.

"That's not good," Kirstie said and Scott shook his head.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kevin asked.

"I didn't want you guys to worry about me. You have to focus on your health too," Scott said.

"That's no excuse, Scott. We made a promise, we will tell each other when something improves or goes wrong," Mitch said taking Scott's hand.

"Did Dr. Hayes say something else?" Kirstie asked changing the subject.

"They are looking for trials, there was one to which I didn't qualify. Dr. Hayes is looking for other options. He found one, he is optimistic about that," Scott lied, he didn't want everyone else to know that he was scared. He was the leader of the gang, he was supposed to be strong and brave when the others couldn't.

"We have to hope for the best," Matt said. The gang hung out for a few more minutes until it was time to go to bed.

The next morning, Matt woke up feeling a little under the weather due to yesterday's events, but he had to get some scans done. Since he woke up before Scott, he took a second to look at his friend, he couldn't help but feel bad for him. A few hours later, Matt was almost done with his scans, he only had an MRI left.

"This should take about an hour. Do you wanna listen to some music or take a nap?" The radiologist asked Matt.

"Music please, I don't think I can fall asleep inside that thing," Matt answered. The radiologist nodded and gave Matt some headphones with music playing.

When Matt was back in his room, Dr. Hayes entered and talked to Matt about how the tests went and some of the results he already got back. "I already called your parents to tell them this, but I also wanted to tell you," Dr. Hayes said and Matt nodded.

"Everything is going as planned, the new treatment seems to be working just fine. You should only have a few infusions left at this rhythm," Dr. Hayes continued.

"Are you serious? This is amazing," Matt said excitedly.

"It is. I'm proud of you Matt. Now get some rest, you had chemo just yesterday," Dr. Hayes said and then left the room.

Matt lay down with a smile on his face, this was the best news he had since he had his leg cut off.