The bucket-list

Katy Wilson-diagnosis

"BEEP BEEP BEEP" my alarm on my phone went, I silently cursed myself for forgetting about my Doctors appointment and opened my eyes only to be momentary blinded by the bright sun that me and some friends were currently using to get the perfect sun kissed tan look. "Ughhhh" Sarah, Lizzy and Shayna all groaned in unison, for our tanning being interrupted. "Sorry guys" I apologized, turning my alarm off.

Shit. My appointment started in 20 minutes and I was currently in a skimpy little pink bikini that Shayna had forced me to wear-in her back yard. Which was a 15 minute drive from Dr.Mauldy's office. I would have to get dressed and in my car at the speed of light if I wanted to make it in time.

I jumped up muttering my goodbye's to my best friends and sprinted to one of Shayna's 4 bathrooms. The closest one being all the way across her house. Which doesn't sound long, but let me rephrase that; all the way across her mansion. Her 9 bedroom, 3 story mansion. Yeah, it took a few minutes.

Once in there I quickly stripped out of the so called "bikini" that Shayna had leant me, *scoff* more like a strippers Friday night outfit.

Once I was changed I dashed out the front door, hastily waving at her parents that were giving me puzzled looks. I didn't t have time to explain myself at the moment. Dr.Mauldy was very respected and my dad already had to pull a few strings to get me an appointment so soon. You usually had at least a few months on the waiting list.

I pulled into her office's parking Lott just as my clock hit 3:00 pm. Right on time. I ran through the reception area, ignoring the looks I was getting from all the stuck up snooty people, and made my way to my destination. Just as I got there, Dr.Mauldy was stepping out of her office with her previous patient telling him something about the medication she had just prescribed.

She looked over and saw me, motioning for me to step inside of her office. I sat on one of those beds with the weird thin paper on it that makes noise whenever you move, and isn't too comfortable. She looked over at me and smiled, her chocolate brown hair shimmering in the light. "For now we're just going to run some simple tests, and go from there" she told me.

She proceeded to take a blood sample, test my reflexes and all the other stuff Doctors do in checkups. Of course this wasn't a normal checkup though, it was anything but. My last Doctor told me that I might have cancer, and that she could run some more tests to confirm what she suspected. When I told my dad how the checkup went he insisted that I go to a specialist and get checked out, rather then my usual doctor. So so here I was, getting the tests that could potentially change my life.

She left the room and came back for about 15 minutes, with a grave smile on her face. As soon as I saw her facial expression my heart dropped into my boots, and suddenly there was a lump in the back of my throat.

"Katherine," she started, using my full name. "When I ran the tests...Well there's no easy way to say this. You have cancer honey." She looked at me with sympathetic eyes, offering me a small smile. Usually I would return it without hesitation. But my face just stayed blank. My throat was really dry all of the sudden and I felt like I couldn't breath. "I...Have to go" I chocked out, grabbing my bag and fleeing.

I hadn't told any of my friends what the appointment was for, incase it was just a false alarm. So they all just thought it was a regular doctors appointment. I was pretty much Ms. goody-two-shoes out of them, so it wouldn't be a surprise.

My dad was a brain surgeon who worked more than you would think is humanely possible and so he is always either working or asleep. And my mom... She died when I was almost 3.So when I got home and ran straight to my room, crying uncontrollably-nobody noticed.

After spending over a week moping around in my house (mainly my room) and having nothing productive come out of it, I decided that I had to get myself back together-and essentially listen to the voice mail Dr.Mauldy left me that I had neglected to listen to for the past week.

I exhaled slowly through my nose to calm myself and get the courage to actually listen to it, and without giving myself the chance not to-I pressed the button. I heard Dr.Mauldy's voice come through my phone in a lame attempt at a greeting. "Anyway, my point in calling isn't just to make sure you're okay, which I hope you are. But, a.... In some cases we can tell on a more specific time line how long you have. Is like to know if you want to take chemo or not. The benefits can be great, and if not it's important that I know. Call me back at this number when you get this, bye".

That's something I hadn't really thought about. But as soon as she said it I knew-I wasn't doing chemo. I had seen to many movies, and read to many books that just say chemo drains everything from you. Is rather have my last years being me, and not all...Not me.

I called her back, and she picked up on the second ring."hello? Katy?" "Yes." There was a short pause before she asked "have you decided?" She didn't have to say what. I knew. "Yes," I cleared my throat "I have. I'm not going through with the chemo." She sighed, "well I'll respect your decision then. But you should know..." "I should know what?" I said snapily, starting to lose my patience. "8 months. That about how long you have left." 8 months? That's it? Only 8 months, not even a couple years, or at least a year. 8 months. That was it.

"...uh, oh. Well thanks then." I said hastily before hanging up. I was going to die, in eight months time I would be dead.