The Day My Earth Stood Still
All day long we wait in this hospital waiting for a procedure to be done. A nurse comes in and tells us its time for more blood. His hemaglobin levels are still not normal which means he is still bleeding somewhere. I'm automatically thinking its from those stupid blood thinners, and thankful he hasnt had any since his hospital visit so I reassure myself that the bleeding will stop. I'm sure its nothing and I wil be driving home after this procedure and they fix the bleed. Another day passes and i go home. The nurses tell us the procedure will be done in the morning after a few more blood transfusions.
Bright and early i show up. My dad looks much better, he was very pale before he went in so now he has color in his cheeks and he is officially back to his adorably annoying tactics!! "BYU football is on today so that doctor better get me going." he tells the nurse. I roll my eyes and think to myself I'm so glad he is feeling better.
Finally HOURS later they come to get him. It going to be really quick, maybe 30 minutes then your dad should be fine and the bleeding will be fixed...... those words of that prep nurse still haunt me. I defintely thought nothing of it. They wheel him back and I sat patiently. Turned on the TV, scrolled through the channels, and before i know it they are wheeling him in. My dad was coughing a little from the scope. Finally I asked the doctor if he found and fixed the bleeding. I almost wish i could rewind and take back my question. The reply was something like an out of body experience.
A tumor.
A tumor?
A tumor?
The doctor went on as I stare blindly baffled.....We found a tumor in your fathers esophogus. We took a biopsy of it and the surrounding tissue. Tumors like these can be benign.
Benign?
Does that mean it could be cancer? Questions and panic were filling my brain like a flood. I look back at my dad again and he seemed coherent.
The whole time the doctor is not even looking at me. Im guessing he is a doctor that has delivered so much bad news that he has become numb to emotion. At least thats how I felt. I looked at my dad and he looked confused, I'm sure as did I. We sat there in silence. Just me and my dad. And this was the day my Supermans world stood still.
