Flatlined

Chapter 2: Char

We were among the last few people to reach the ward. Dr. Adams was in the end of her routine pre-case speech.

" Always remember the three C's of medicine- competency, commitment and compassion.", she said as she looked around at each and everyone with a solemn face." I expect you all to give your everything in each case that you treat. Any mistake that you make will be reflected on me and my teaching. Have I made my point clear?"

Without missing a beat we all answered in a loud chorus, "Yes mam". Standing at towering height of 6'1 and with a voice that demanded obedience ,she was a force to be reckoned. We followed her as she navigated across the ward to patients rooms.

A nurse handed out the medical charts of the patients along the way. The binder that she gave me was huge-that meant that this patient had a long medical history. Poor kid.

When we reached Room 1080 Dr.Adams looked at me and said ," I believe this is your patient, Dr. Sanders. Lead the way."

Bracing myself I walked inside with all the others right behind me. A woman with thick black hair set in a braid was standing on one side of the bed with her back towards us. Her body was shaking in silent laughter. On the other side of the bed her husband was desperately trying to wipe of what appeared to be bright red lipstick of his face. I tried to get a look at my patient but the entire bed was overflowing with plush pillows and toys of all sorts making it impossible to see if there was person on that bed or not.

I cleared my to throat to get their attention. Finally noticing our presence, the couple looked at us with a smile.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Beau! I am Dr. Sanders and I will be your doctor this evening." I said with a warm smile.

Mr.Beau reached forward and shook my hand . " Nice to meet you Dr.Sanders! Please excuse my lipstick. My daughter insists on playing makeover with me. She's says I'm not pretty enough." He said as he rolled his eyes.

"She has him wound around her finger. One look at her when she's making her puppy dog face and my husband's a goner" said Mrs.Beau as she crossed the bed and stood beside her husband.

"Where is Charlotte? Is she in the bathroom" I asked.

"Nahhh I'm right here silly"said a shrill voice from underneath all the pillows.

I stepped closer to get a better view. There underneath all the mess was one of the prettiest little girl I have ever seen in my life. With a heart shaped face, soft brown, curly hair, she looked absolutely adorable. She gave me a shy smile and turned to her mother and said in a loud whisper," I like Dr.Sanders. She's pretty."

"Now that we've gotten to know each other , I think it's time to review the case," said Dr.Adams bringing me back to reality. Now that I looked at Charlotte again, I could see that both eyes were slightly squint and facing away from each other a bit.

" Yes. Right then. This is Charlotte Beau, age 4. " I said while looking through her medical charts. " She was diagnosed with retinoblastoma of the right eye a year ago. On treatment, the cancer was believed to have been cured. However in one of her follow-up sessions a few weeks ago, it was revealed that there was a recurrence of the cancer in her right eye as well as a new occurrence in her left eye ."

"Yes that's right. Now who can tell me what retinoblastoma is ?" Asked Dr.Adams

Blake stepped forward and answered," Retinoblastoma is a rare form of cancer developed from the immature cells of the retina of the eye. The normal signs and symptoms include- reduced vision, redness and puffiness of the eye and development of squint eye or cross eye."

Dr. Adams nodded her head and turned towards me," And what do you propose as the line of treatment right now, Dr.Sanders"

"We can start with opthalmic artery infusion chemotherapy. If she responds to the treatment, we can continue or we'll have to shift to another course."

"Yes that's right. Do you have any questions that you'd like to ask ,sir? " Asked Dr.Adams

" I just have one question.What happens if she doesn't respond to the treatment" asked Mr. Beau

" In that case we'll have to shift to thermotherapy or surgery depending on her situation at that time."

" Well let's  hope it works" said Mr.Beau while holding his wife's hand tightly

" We will try our level best sir. If you have any more questions , feel free to contact me or Dr. Sanders." With that Dr.Adams and all the the other residents shuffled out of the room to move on to the next patient.

"Once we start the treatment, Charlotte will need to stay in the hospital for about a month so that she can be constantly monitored. After that she'll need to come back for weekly follow-ups.  I will be back tomorrow along with an opthalmologist so that we can discuss the treatment in detail." I said and looking back and forth between Mr. and Mrs. Beau. They nodded their heads in approval.

I looked down at Charlotte. She wasn't even looking at any of us but was staring forward at the wall in front of her with a pout on her lips. I bent to her level and said ," Hey what's going in that pretty little head. "

" I don't like hospitals. Everytime they say that this is the last time. But I always come back. And it hurts when they poke those icky needles in me" she said with frown on her face. " Can you promise  me that I wont have to come back"

She looked so vulnerable at that moment. I replied,"Yes I promise you that after 6 months you'll never have to come back. No more icky hospital needles. Now come on Charlotte,I want to see you turn that frown into a smile."

She gave me a small smile and said," You can call me Char. All my friends do."