My Journey with Farrah - Alana Stewart [39]
I was only out a short time, and when I woke up, I was back in my room with Farrah. When the doctor finally came in, he said it all went well and that the results of the biopsy should be back in a day or so.
As I was preparing to leave, I went to the front desk, and the bill they gave me was for twenty-five hundred Euros, or about four thousand dollars. That seemed a little high to me for a biopsy, so as uncomfortable as it is for me to question a doctor about money, I summoned up the courage to ask him about it. He explained that it was for the anesthesiologist, the biopsy, and the laboratory. He added that I would need “no further therapy.” I wasn’t sure what he meant, so I asked, “You mean I won’t have to do anything more in the future?”
He repeated, “You will need no further therapy,” kind of mysteriously, I thought. I didn’t have a clue what he meant, so I just paid the damn bill and left, hoping my insurance covered it.
When we got back to the clinic, I told Dr. Jacob what had happened. She called my doctor to get to the bottom of it and found out what had happened. Apparently, during the procedure he had used a special kind of new ultraviolet light that can detect precisely the area of the abnormal cells. There was only a small, isolated area, and he was able to burn it out with the laser, which is what he meant when he said “no further therapy.” So basically, he either didn’t understand that I didn’t want to do the laser treatment…or just plain ignored me. Either way, it was done, and I couldn’t freak out about it. Dr. Jacob was really excited about it and said I was very lucky. I was so happy and relieved. Farrah and I were practically jumping for joy.
June 4, 2008
I just had one of those moments where your life changes in a flash. This morning I was getting ready to go with Farrah for her biopsy, not having slept well even after taking three Ativan, when Dr. Jacob came into my room with her medical chart.
She said, “Alana, come and sit,” motioning me to sit on the bed across from her. “We must talk,” she continued. “I have some news from Dr. Phutzenreuter. There is good news, and some not so good news. The first biopsy came back from the tissue he lasered out, and it is stage one cancer.”
It happened so quickly and unexpectedly that I don’t remember what I said. Probably “Are you kidding?” As if this would be a joke. I suddenly heard Farrah’s voice in my head as I remembered what she had said to her doctors when they told her she had cancer: “No, I don’t. I couldn’t have cancer!” My reaction was the same. Total and complete denial that this could be happening to me.
Dr. Jacob continued: “The good news, Alana, is that he’s fairly certain he removed it all. Now, we will know for sure when the rest of the biopsy report comes back. If there are any cancer cells in the surrounding tissue, then you will have to go back and he will remove them. It’s a very good thing you went yesterday. You are lucky.”
I didn’t feel lucky—or even scared. Just kind of practical and businesslike. “How do we know it isn’t anywhere else?” I asked.
“We could do a PET scan. In fact, we probably should,” she replied.
“Yes, let’s do it right away. Body and brain? Do I still have to go to Stuttgart?” The trip from hell.
“Yes, they’re still the best,” she replied.
“Okay. The sooner the better. I don’t want to sit around on pins and needles.”
“And now I will take some blood to check your tumor markers and we will send it to Greece for a vaccine. I’m sorry, Alana, but it’s better to know now when it’s so early and maybe he has already gotten it all.”
I went straight into Farrah’s room to tell her, but Dr. Jacob had beat me to it. When I walked in, Farrah was completely in shock. She hugged me and said, “Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.”
I replied, “It better be. Otherwise, you’re going to have to get well quick so you can take care of me.”
Later
Dr. Jacob came in with all my blood work results and the report from Dr. Rotorooter. The