Page 9 — The Surgery
Having Liam didn’t mean the danger was over.
Now the doctors could focus more directly on the mass.
Additional testing confirmed what everyone had feared.
The mass needed treatment.
I was terrified.
But this time, I wasn’t pregnant.
The doctors could finally proceed with the treatment plan they believed was safest.
The weeks leading up to the procedure were difficult.
I had a newborn at home.
I had never felt more needed.
Every time Liam cried, I wanted to be the one who picked him up.
Every time he smiled, I wanted to memorize it.
I was afraid that something might happen to me before he was old enough to remember me.
One night, I asked Thomas to bring Liam into our bedroom.
He placed him beside me.
I touched his tiny cheek.
“I need you to promise me something.”
Thomas looked at me.
“What?”
“If anything happens…”
“Don’t.”
“Listen.”
He sat beside me.
“Tell him about me.”
Thomas’s eyes filled with tears.
“You’re going to tell him yourself.”
“I hope so.”
“You will.”
The treatment was successful.
The doctors removed the mass.
And then came the waiting.
The pathology results took days.
Those were some of the longest days of my life.
Finally, the doctor called.
The results were encouraging.
The mass had been found before it had caused the damage everyone feared.
I sat down when I heard the news.
Thomas wrapped his arms around me.
I cried.
Not because I was afraid anymore.
Because I had been given time.
