"So I'm going to have an excisional biopsy done on the lumps on your neck and collarbone."
"What does that mean?" Camila asked the ENT, Dr. Irving, while running her hand over the bump on her neck.
"An excisional biopsy is when the whole lump is removed. Those will get sent to a pathologist and they'll determine whether the cancer is Hodgkin's or Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma," Dr. Irving explained as he took a seat on his rolling chair.
"How long does the procedure take?" Normani asked, gaining the doctor's attention.
"Less than an hour. She'll be under general anesthesia since the lump in her collarbone seems to be a bit deeper than the one on her neck. Once both lumps are removed she'll be taken to recovery for an hour and then she can head home when she feels ready."
"Does it hurt?" Camila asked nervously, making the doctor offer her a sympathetic smile.
"There may be some soreness. Tylenol should help to relieve some of the ache. But overall, it shouldn't be too painful."
"And it will scar?" Camila questioned in an even smaller voice. She was hoping there would be a way to go through this whole experience (cancer, not just the biopsy) with no proof of it ever happening.
"Yes. There will be thin scars about three inches long here, and here," the doctor explained, drawing his finger over the spot across the lump on Camila's neck and the one on her collarbone.
"Don't worry, baby girl. There are creams that can help heal scars," Normani said reassuringly, knowing very well what her daughter was worried about.
"Do you ladies have any other questions?" The doctor waited for either Normani or Camila to speak before nodding and grabbing the file from his desk and grabbing a paper from the back. "So tomorrow, you're going to go to the hospital at 8am. The biopsy should be performed about an hour after your arrival. Camila, no eating anything after 9pm, and no drinking anything after midnight. You can have a sip of water in the morning, but that's all, alright?"
"Okay," Camila agreed, getting off the bed and reaching for her sweater.
"Normani, I'll call you with the results as soon as they come in."
~.~.~
Camila sat across from Ariana at a table in the cafeteria. She pulled her sandwich apart, not bothering to even try to eat it as her appointment with the ENT earlier that morning replayed over and over in her head. She kept rubbing the lump on her neck. It baffled her that it wasn't going to be there by the same time tomorrow. It was weird that something that should be so foreign to someone could easily become apart of them.
"So, any hobbies?" Ariana questioned, trying to pull something from the very spaced out girl.
"Huh? Sorry, what was that?" Camila asked, shaking her head and removing her hand from her neck.
"What do you do for fun? Do you play sports?"
"No way," Camila said with a small laugh. "I'd break my face doing anything remotely physical."
"Same," Ariana laughed, eating her food, unlike Camila. "So no to sports. How about theater? Music? Anything like that?"
"I'm going to take it that you are into theater and music," Camila said, trying to switch the conversation from herself onto the other girl.
"Guilty," Ariana laughed again. "I'm really into musicals and stuff like that. I was thinking about auditioning for the school play here. I hear that it's a musical theater style type thing."
YOU ARE READING
Coming Home (Over & Over)
Fanfiction"I know, baby. I know. Right now everything is falling apart and giving up just seems easier, but you can't. You can't give up, because maybe tomorrow will be better, but you'll never know unless you fight long enough to get there. Please, baby. Fig...
