All My Life

Chapter 45

"Mom, do you want to wake up Dad for this?" Don asked. "Or would you like for us to go to another room?"

Jane shook her head. "I really don't want to wake him up; he really needs his sleep. I also don't want to leave him."

"Here, Don Man." Meryl pulled a chair over to where Jane was sitting. "Sit down."

Don whispered in her ear. "You better not have hurt yourself."

"I'm fine." Meryl whispered back as she continued to stand next to him holding his hand. "What did the results show, doctor?"

The doctor smiled as he looked at the chart. "The PET Scan did NOT show any evidence of cancerous cells."

"Oh, thank God." Jane cried as she kissed Brad's hand she was holding. "Thank God."

Meryl kissed Don's hand as he looked at her with relief. "You were right."

"It happens every once in awhile." Meryl teased. "This means he won't need chemotherapy, correct?"

The doctor sighed. "This is the tricky part. The tumor that was in his body DID have cancerous cells; even though those cells didn't spread."

"So you think he should have chemo?" Don asked. "I'm sorry, I'm tired and I'm not following perfectly."

The doctor nodded. "I know his body has been through so much. I am confident that we can get him past this devastating stroke and on the other side. I would hate for him to go through all that and have a few undetected cancer cells grow."

"You do want him to have chemo." Jane said.

The doctor was looking through Brad's chart. "Ultimately it is his decision."

"You are the professional." Meryl jumped in as she could tell that Don and Jane were overwhelmed. "Doctor, what would you recommend?"

The doctor sighed as he closed the chart. "I conferred with the best oncologist in the midwest and she suggests a low dose of chemo treatment; just to be safe. In order to make sure that all the cancerous cells are gone; and there aren't any that could replicate that we didn't see."

"Donny?" Jane looked up at Don. "What do you think?"

Don sighed. "I know what I want. I want none of this to have happened to him after as hard as he worked to come back to us." Don choked as he felt Meryl kiss his head. "However, this is the hand he has been dealt; and as my wife keeps reminding me he's a fighter." Don winked at Meryl. "I'm with the doctor; I do feel like we can get him past this stroke, and I don't want to lose him to cancer. If it were up to me I would say have chemo. Dad is back to us and is of sound mind, so it is no longer up to us, Mom; it is up to Dad. I think we need to wait and see what he thinks once he has time to process everything."

"Doctor?" Meryl began. "Does this decision need to be made right now?"

The doctor shook his head. "Not at all. Talk to Brad and then I can page the Oncologist to talk to all of you if you would like."

"This is a decision my parents will make together." Don said as he looked at his mother. "Though my wife and I, as well as my brothers and sisters-in-law, will support whatever they decide; it is a decision that only they can make."

Meryl smiled at her husband knowing he was talking from their past shared experiences as husband and wife. "Jane, I do have a question if that's alright."

"Of course." Jane smiled. "I need all the ears in on this as possible."

Don nodded in agreement with his mother. "I always want to hear your input."