Spring was the time of year this young family came to dread. The thaw of ice always seemed to bring trouble to their home. This spring was no exception.
~
The seeds of destruction have finally blossomed!
~
Millie found Kate sitting on her bed, “Kate, I was eavesdropping on Mom and Dad while they were sitting at the table last night. Mom mentioned malignancy.” Kate and Millie contemplated what malignancy might mean, “Katie, what’s a malignancy? Can we get it too?”
“Let’s look it up in the dictionary.” Kate pulled the book from the shelf and read aloud, “Malignant state, cancerous growth.”
“Well that doesn’t tell me anything. What’s cancer? Look that up, Katie.”
Kate read aloud, “Malignant growth that tends to spread.”
“I still don’t get it, Kate. That’s no help at all.” …show more content…
“I don’t really know or understand what it is. Even the doctors don’t know much about it.”
“Well, Dad, how do you know Mom has cancer?” Kate asked.
“Your mother had a sore on her breast that would not heal. She ignored the oozing sore by covering it up with gauze. It kept getting worse and would not go away. She finally went to the doctor for some testing. The tests showed she has cancer. Now they want to do a radical mastectomy.”
Millie interrupted, “What in the world is a radical mastectomy, Dad?”
“The doctors will remove her left breast, hopefully taking all the cancer with it.”
Millie sucked in her breath, “Remove? As in cut it off? Dad, they can’t do that!”
“It’s one of the ways they get rid of cancer. She’ll probably need radiation treatments after the surgery to kill off any cancer cells.”
“Won’t radiation burn her skin?” Katie questioned.
“I just don’t have a lot of answers girls. I really don’t know that much about cancer.”
With trembling lips, Millie dared to ask, “Is Mom going to die?”
Tears filled Max’s eyes, “I don’t know.”
~
The seeds of destruction have finally blossomed!
~
Millie found Kate sitting on her bed, “Kate, I was eavesdropping on Mom and Dad while they were sitting at the table last night. Mom mentioned malignancy.” Kate and Millie contemplated what malignancy might mean, “Katie, what’s a malignancy? Can we get it too?”
“Let’s look it up in the dictionary.” Kate pulled the book from the shelf and read aloud, “Malignant state, cancerous growth.”
“Well that doesn’t tell me anything. What’s cancer? Look that up, Katie.”
Kate read aloud, “Malignant growth that tends to spread.”
“I still don’t get it, Kate. That’s no help at all.” …show more content…
“I don’t really know or understand what it is. Even the doctors don’t know much about it.”
“Well, Dad, how do you know Mom has cancer?” Kate asked.
“Your mother had a sore on her breast that would not heal. She ignored the oozing sore by covering it up with gauze. It kept getting worse and would not go away. She finally went to the doctor for some testing. The tests showed she has cancer. Now they want to do a radical mastectomy.”
Millie interrupted, “What in the world is a radical mastectomy, Dad?”
“The doctors will remove her left breast, hopefully taking all the cancer with it.”
Millie sucked in her breath, “Remove? As in cut it off? Dad, they can’t do that!”
“It’s one of the ways they get rid of cancer. She’ll probably need radiation treatments after the surgery to kill off any cancer cells.”
“Won’t radiation burn her skin?” Katie questioned.
“I just don’t have a lot of answers girls. I really don’t know that much about cancer.”
With trembling lips, Millie dared to ask, “Is Mom going to die?”
Tears filled Max’s eyes, “I don’t know.”