Page 6 — The Mass
The additional tests came quickly.
CT imaging wasn’t an option while I was pregnant, so the doctors carefully considered what could be done safely.
There were more scans.
More blood tests.
More specialists.
Every time my phone rang, my stomach tightened.
I stopped sleeping properly.
I would wake up at three in the morning and stare at the ceiling.
Thomas would reach for me.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He would pull me closer.
“I’m here.”
But neither of us knew what the future held.
Eventually, we were called into a consultation room.
A specialist placed several images on the table.
“There is a mass on your right kidney.”
I stared at him.
“How large?”
“Large enough that we need to investigate it carefully.”
“How long has it been there?”
He hesitated.
“We can’t know exactly.”
“Years?”
“Possibly.”
My eyes filled with tears.
Then I asked the question that mattered most.
