What is Lost and What Can Be Found (By: Tsukikage Hoshiko)

CHOICES

PART 1 

"I'm afraid I have some bad news. None of you are eligible to become living donors."

It was hours after the testing and they were once again gathered together to speak with the doctor. The middle aged man had a somber expression as he told them the news that made their hearts sink.

"What? Why?" Matsuyo was devastated, the desperation in her voice was palatable. The rest of the Matsuno family voices similar sentiments.

The doctor sighed as he adjusted his glasses.

"You all have some sort of health complication that would disqualify you. A living donor must be healthy, because even with a healthy donor there are risks. There is always a small possibility of something going wrong with a surgery even in an already healthy person. For a person with health concerns... we cannot in good conscience go through with a surgery when it would be detrimental to the donor."

"What complications do we have?" Choromatsu spoke up, hoping to gain a better picture of the situation.

"Do I have your permission to share your medical information with each other? Yes? Well, for Matsuzo-san he is morbidly obese and has problems with high blood pressure. Doing a surgery such as this will put additional stress on his body which could be very damaging."

"Matsuyo-san has anemia and is a little underweight. A surgery would be too much strain on her body."

"Osomatsu-san has already developed some liver problems from excess consumption of alcohol. This is unusual to see in someone so young, you may want to seek help."

"Choromatsu-san has anxiety disorder and is on medication. People on medication for mental disorders are prohibited from being donors. For that same reason, Jyushimatsu-san also cannot donate since he is taking medication for ADHD."

"Todomatsu-san, I'm afraid to tell you that you have hepatitis. It is a treatable illness, but it does affect the liver so you are also ineligible."

"What about me?" Ichimatsu spoke up, the doctor had paused for a while, gathering his thoughts.

"It was actually quite fortuitous that we performed so many tests. Ichimatsu-san, there were a number of your tests results that were troubling, which is why we did so much more testing with you than with the rest of your family.

"Ichimatsu-san, we found that you have lung cancer."

What?

It felt like the floor had dropped out beneath him, and his heart leap to his throat before it plummeted.

"Since we have caught it early, the chances that you will survive five years are very good, perhaps nearly 50%. We should start treatment as soon as possible to take advantage of the early warning."

"Five years?" Matsuyo asked, while wringing her hands worriedly.

"Five years is just a standard measurement, many people live longer than five years. You're lucky, if it had progressed further, even with the best treatment you might have only had two, maybe three years at most." The doctor explained.

"What if I refuse treatment?" Ichimatsu asked suddenly.

The doctor was taken aback by the question, but answered anyway.

"I suppose you might live a year, maybe two at most. It depends on how fast the cancer spreads. Without treatment, you may have as little as only half a year. At this point we would need to do more tests to determine that."

Ichimatsu felt numb at the prospect of his impending death, but then a thought occurred to him.

"If I have cancer in my lungs, isn't my liver alright? Why can't I become a living donor?" He asked as he looked up at the doctor.