labor and giving birth—and then also while they adjusted to having an infant in the house. I did some research, consulted with a few integrative oncologists, and I decided that in that context, the best course of action was to end the chemo treatments for a few months.”
Deacon scowled. “Emma, you know what pancreatic cancer is like. You can’t back down even for a minute, or it gets ahead of us. It wins. Why would you stop his treatment at that crucial stage?”
“I didn’t stop his treatment,” I shot back. “I suspended the chemo temporarily.” Holding up my fingers, I began counting off on them. “His tumor markers were improved. We’d seen some shrinkage of the tumor on his scans. We were at the point where typically, we’d look at scheduling surgery.”
“But you didn’t.” Deacon cocked his head. “Because you didn’t want to interfere with their new baby? Did you think that maybe that baby would be better served by having a father who lived to see the child’s first birthday?”
“His distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy took place less than three months after his last round of chemo. You can see that in his chart if you bothered to look. The surgery was successful. Because we spent those three months preparing his body to better tolerate the trauma of surgery, building him up and allowing him some much-needed rest and recovery time, he bounced back faster than most patients do.” I found what I was looking for on my own tablet and enlarged it, turning it to show Deacon. “Even the surgical team remarked on it.”
“I came on board right after Mr. Brewer’s surgery.” Alison spoke up. “Having only read his chart, I expected to meet a man who was more typical of a pancreatic cancer patient. But I was happily surprised. Not only do his numbers look very promising, but his quality of life has not measurably deteriorated. He’s got an incredibly positive outlook, and he’s responded well to the protocols implemented by Dr. Carson.”
I knew coming in here that Alison would have my back, but still, it was a relief to hear what she said. Professionally speaking, she was more closely aligned with Deacon. She’d been mostly supportive of my methods since coming to work at St. Agnes, but that had been before there was another medical doctor around.
“Could you elaborate on what those protocols are . . . Dr. Carson?” Deacon settled into the corner of the sofa, his eyes on me. “I’d like to hear what you’re doing and how you settled on those particular methods.”
“Of course.” I took a deep breath, striving to sound professional and not at all as though I was remembering the glow of intensity on Deacon’s face as he’d bent me over this piece of furniture once upon a time. “Well, first of all, of course we had already recommended a change in diet designed to help his body tolerate the chemotherapy and fight the cancer cells. George eliminated all sugar from his diet, which was a huge deal. It’s not easy to do, but he was committed, and he did it.” I paused. “We increased his soluble fiber intake and recommended pairing protein with carbs. We also increased his vitamin D, and we added lycopene and beta carotene to his supplements.”
“To the best of my knowledge, there’s insufficient evidence to prove the effectiveness of the last two in pancreatic cancer,” Deacon remarked. What might have looked like a smile to anyone else was actually a smirk, I knew. He was being condescending as hell.
“The newest testing is promising. I can forward you the reports I’ve seen.” I jotted myself a note. “The point is that they’re not counter-productive.”
“Possibly, but I wasn’t aware that our medical standards here at St. Agnes had sunk to a level of won’t hurt, might help.” Deacon crossed his legs, resting his ankle on his opposite knee.
“That’s a grossly simplified version of what I just said. I didn’t blindfold myself and throw a dart at a list of supplements. I did the research. And guess what? It’s working.”
“It appears to be. We don’t know for sure. This is pancreatic cancer, not a toothache.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I snapped, finally at the end of my patience. “I’m not an idiot. Please do me the courtesy of remembering that, Dr. Girard. Also, I wasn’t finished.” I scrolled to the next section of the chart. “Diet and supplements were only the start. We also designed an exercise regimen that helped