Ben Robertson
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2015
"No way..." I repeat, still disbelieving what I'm hearing, that THIS is my only hope, "Absolutely not, doc. There's got to be another way..."
The doctor, behind his wooden desk, is now just shaking his head, hands crossed on the pile of papers between us.
Until all hours yesterday, the middle of the night, I went through that treatment, the worst one yet, to hear this. It was the only thing keeping me going, the hope. That, and Milly by my side. She had been taken away from me for a bit, for what I didn't know...but now I do. After a night spent on clinic cots, she sits by my side now. She's watching me with concern and pity, watching me try to come to terms with this new information - something she's known since yesterday.
The fact of the matter is that my treatments aren't working. Well, they're working less and less well in that they're not keeping up with my condition, which is accelerating. My long bones are shrinking and softening faster, and to keep up I'll very quickly be on a regimen of this irradiated cow's milk every day to keep the rest of me shrinking alongside them. And, with the misery they bring - that's just not a life...wasting away in pain.
But there are so many reasons I just can't accept this new form of the treatment they're proposing. And I can't see why she would either. It would be pain free, they say. It would work indefinitely, they say, until my condition stabilizes (though I almost heard an "if"). And, best of all, I could continue my treatments at home.
But...but...No!
"Please, doc," I implore, trying to sound calm, "please tell me you have other ideas.."
No succor, no change of demeanor from the doctor, I look over pleadingly at Milly...
The doctor, behind his wooden desk, is now just shaking his head, hands crossed on the pile of papers between us.
Until all hours yesterday, the middle of the night, I went through that treatment, the worst one yet, to hear this. It was the only thing keeping me going, the hope. That, and Milly by my side. She had been taken away from me for a bit, for what I didn't know...but now I do. After a night spent on clinic cots, she sits by my side now. She's watching me with concern and pity, watching me try to come to terms with this new information - something she's known since yesterday.
The fact of the matter is that my treatments aren't working. Well, they're working less and less well in that they're not keeping up with my condition, which is accelerating. My long bones are shrinking and softening faster, and to keep up I'll very quickly be on a regimen of this irradiated cow's milk every day to keep the rest of me shrinking alongside them. And, with the misery they bring - that's just not a life...wasting away in pain.
But there are so many reasons I just can't accept this new form of the treatment they're proposing. And I can't see why she would either. It would be pain free, they say. It would work indefinitely, they say, until my condition stabilizes (though I almost heard an "if"). And, best of all, I could continue my treatments at home.
But...but...No!
"Please, doc," I implore, trying to sound calm, "please tell me you have other ideas.."
No succor, no change of demeanor from the doctor, I look over pleadingly at Milly...