Girls in the City Alison - Suzanne Jenkins Page 0,33
Dad, Dr. Baker was just telling me my life-and-death options. Can we continue please before I do a cartwheel?”
“Oh god, we’re so sorry,” John said. “We’ll wait out in the hallway.”
“No, stay and listen so I don’t have to repeat everything. I have carcinoma in situ of the cervix. He was just going to tell me what my treatment options are.”
Lisa held on to John, weeping.
“Yes, because of her age, we will do the minimal surgery to preserve her cervix. When Alison is finished having children, she can have more extensive surgery down the road if it’s needed. The diagnosis puts her in a high-risk group when she does become pregnant.”
“What causes this?” Lisa asked, trying to salvage her makeup with a tissue.
“Of course she’d ask,” Alison replied, shaking her head. “Go ahead and tell her.”
“Almost all cervical cancers are caused by one of two types of HPV viruses, which are sexually transmitted.”
“I was twelve years old when the vaccine came out, Mom. Why didn’t you have me get it?”
“It wasn’t her fault,” John said quickly, coming to Lisa’s defense. “They had just developed the vaccine, and not enough was known about it at the time. They’ve changed the dosage and regimen since then.”
“So what’s next?” Alison asked.
“Well, you’re going to be admitted, I’m sorry to say. I know you don’t want that. But you’ll be more comfortable in your own room while you get the rest of your blood transfusions.”
“Why the anemia?” Lisa asked.
“The tumor was big enough that it was bleeding microscopically. Alison wouldn’t see blood necessarily, but it would be enough to cause the anemia.”
“I did have some spotting recently, but I thought it was due to sex. Sorry, Mom and Dad.”
“No apologies necessary,” they chorused.
“Okay,” Alison said. “What next?”
“Once your hemoglobin is back at a safe level, we’ll get you on the OR schedule for a laser excision.”
“When can I start trying to get pregnant?”
“I usually tell my patients to wait six months to conceive.”
“Do you want me to put it on my calendar?” Rich asked, and everyone, including Alison, laughed.
Someday she would tell Dr. Baker how important having a family was to her, but not right then. She lay back on the stretcher and thought about her life, how the sudden urgency to start her family made everything pale in comparison.
“Yes, love. Put it on the calendar.”
Chapter 7
The next months were a whirlwind of change and activity. The surgery, which turned out to be a minor, usually outpatient procedure, was only done inpatient because Alison was there already, getting blood.
Quickly regaining her old spunk, she returned to work while Rich went house hunting. Almost daily, he’d find something that they could barely afford, and after work, she’d go back to look at it.
In July, they bought an adorable bungalow in University City, minutes from the ocean and within walking distance to everything they might need someday, including good schools.
While they waited for the mortgage to be approved, the weekends in July were spent looking at apartments in Los Angeles, close to the UCLA Medical Center, where Rich would do his fellowship. Once he found one that Alison felt good about, they could focus on moving into their house.
After the fellowship started in August, while she was living alone during the week, Alison painted the inside of the house. It was going to be perfect for them: three small bedrooms, two full baths, an eat-in kitchen, and a small living room with a fireplace.
The house was unlike anything she thought she’d like, with old California charm and mature landscaping. Her father and brothers brought her bookcases over, and as she unpacked her books and mementoes, the house came to life for her. Boxes of Rich’s things would be unpacked as soon as he had the time.
She unpacked their wedding gifts, writing thank-yous and taking photographs to send along with the cards.
The second bedroom became Mike’s room and the future playroom. The tiniest bedroom became the nursery-to-be. Kathy and Hank brought over Mike’s old crib and dressing table, and the following Friday when Rich got home and saw the room-in-waiting, he got a little emotional thinking about adding to his family soon.
In the OR at work, Alison missed Rich, the grind of her residency only made tolerable by the anticipation of getting back to the house to make it a home. She wondered how the days would have gone if she’d never met him.
As she moved into her second year of residency, she made it an act