** monday September 8th 2036 **
-taylors pov-
We arrive at the hospital for surgery day early in the morning. Kenzie is really nervous, but this is another step to getting her better. "mommy what if I don't wake up again" she says as we get her into her gown and onto the bed in the preoperative area of the children's hospital.
I don't exactly know what to tell her about that because it is a risk you take when you go under anesthesia, but I don't want her to go under that scared either. "Some people don't wake up, you're right about that, but chances are you are going to be fine sweetie" I tell her and sit on the edge of her bed and hold her hands.
"Your mom is right, we are going to think happy thoughts and we are going to be with you right after surgery" joe says and take her other hand. She is visibly nervous, but I think she is calming down now.
The surgeon comes over to give a final run down of the operation to us and sign her belly before he heads off to get ready for surgery.
I get dressed in a special outfit so I can come in with her as they put her under anesthesia so she isn't too scared. So I follow her into the operating room and hold her hand while they put the mask over her mouth and ask her to count backwards from a hundred.
-ellies pov-
I'm sitting in math class but today it's hard to concentrate. I know that kenzie just went in for surgery about half an hour ago so concentration on equations isn't ecactly what I want to be doing right now. What I want to do is be at the hospital and wait for her, but my parents said that its going to be a long surgery and its better for me and aurora to be at school and do normal things.
Aperently kenzie Is going to at least spend a day in the ICU and then a few days in the medical ward before she gets to go home. But that is if there aren't any complications from the surgery. Best case scenario is that she gets out of the hospital on monday, but we don't know for sure yet.
With surgery on the liver there are a lot of things that could go wrong, she could bleed out potentially and then it's the risk that too much of her liver is involved and she will need a liver transplant. In the case of that possibility the rest of us have gotten tested to see if we are a match for her, which I am. So if the surgery goes wrong, I need to decide if I'm willing to donate part of my liver. They say that it will grow out again, that's something that's cool about the liver, but I hate surgery. Obviously if she needs it I will give it to her, but I am just nervous about the possibility that she is going to have complications.
"Miss Alwyn are you okay? You seem distracted, and that's not like you" the teacher asks as she makes the rounds in the classroom as we are working on problems. "yeah... well no.. My sister is in surgery so I'm a bit distracted. But I will try to focus more" I tell her, and she gently pat my back and says that I should just do my best and that's enough today.
**
-taylors pov-
We have been sitting in the waiting room for hours when the surgeon finally comes out to meet us. "She did well. We got the entire tumor and it's sent off to pathology. The rest of her liver seem to be in working condition and they are bringing her up to the ICU now. So far things are looking good" the surgeon says and my so relieved.
My hand is tightly holding joes and a nurse leads us up to the ICU and show us where kenzie is. She isn't awake yet but there are two chairs there for us to sit with her until she wakes up.
Abigail is driving aurora to gymnastics and driving her home afterwards, so we don't need to think about that, and Alex is driving Ellie home. We don't know when either joe or I will be home, it depends on how kenzie is doing, but one of us is obviously staying here tonight.
It takes about thirty minutes but then kenzie starts to stir so we call on the nurse and she comes to check on her. "Hello there miss Mackenzie. Ure out of surgery and in the pediatric intensive care unit now. Your mommy and daddy are here too" the nurse says and do some basic tests on her as she is opening her eyes.
"Mommy. Daddy. I'm alive" she says with a raspy hoarse voice from the intubation. "you're alive baby girl. And they took out the entire tumor and the rest of your liver looks good. You did so good" I tell her and take her hand in mine.
"How is your pain?" the nurse asks her, and she says she is in a bit of pain, so the nurse administer some more pain meds for her. Before she leaves to go back to her desk, she makes sure kenzie can move her arms and legs and check that her pumps are working properly.
"How long did it take?" she asks and cough a bit "about 6 hours so it took a while. But they needed to make sure that they went slow enough to get it right. And they were successful" I tell her and kiss her forhead.
She is exhausted and drowsy from the medication, but at least she is awake and seems to be doing okay. My biggest worry with the surgery was that there would be more damage to her liver or that she would have excessive bleeding, but none of that happened. She got a few units of blood during surgery, but no major bleeding happened.
"This means no more surgery, right?" she asks, and I nod "no more surgery. They will eventually need to take out your port-a-Cath, but that's not really a surgery. So unless something else happens no more surgery and no more hospital stays. At least that's planned. Now it's a few days in the hospital and then you can come home"
She has been talking about how bored she is of hospitals, and I understand that after all the time she has had to spend her. I can't even count at the top of my head how many days she has been here in total and how many things they have had to do to her. It's been a long road but we are looking forward and hoping that the immunotherapy is going to be the last step to get her body cancer free.
** tuesday **
It's after school and joe, aurora and Ellie walk into Kenzie's hospital room down on the medical ward. She was moved this morning because she is doing so well and doesn't need to be in the ICU anymore.
"Yay visitors" kenzie says and get me to sit her bed up more. "You look good" Ellie says and give her sister a hug before aurora does too. Ellie pulls out her phone and show her pictures of karma which kenzie requested.
"They say that if I keep doing good, I can come home on monday. But that means I don't get to be home for your birthday tomorrow" kenzie says and that's been something that annoys her. She tried to get us to change her surgery day because it was more important to her to be home on Ellies birthday, but we obviously didn't do that.
"We are coming here after I take my driver's test after school. Then we are coming here with cake, and we can celebrate together" Ellie says and that makes kenzie feel a bit better at least. Ellie doesn't want to do something huge for her birthday this year, so that works out perfectly. She is coming here tomorrow and then on Saturday she is having her friends over to the house while aurora is at gymnastics so they can have a mini party there.
"What type of cake?" kenzie asks and furrow her eyebrows "red velvet with crème cheese frosting. My favorite" Ellie says.
She is really excited to take her driver's test tomorrow but I'm nervous. If she passes that's yet another step towards adulthood and she can now drive around on her own. Joe and I decided years ago that on their 16th birthday all three girls will get whatever car they wanted, and Ellie wanted a black range rover that's electrical. It's a good choice for a car so we ordered that months ago and they will pick it up after her test regardless of if she passes or not. If she passes the test, she will get to drive it on her own, but if not, it will stay at home until she can.
** the next day **
-joes pov-
Aurora and I are sitting on a bench outside the driver's office waiting for Ellie to finish her test. She was nervous this morning but she has been driving a lot so I think she will do fine. I failed two times before I passed my test, but Ellie has always been a good driver, so I have faith in her. I think the new car that's waiting for her is a good motivation too.
The sad part for me is that she is growing up and that's scary as a dad. When she passes her driver's test, she is even more independent and isn't dependent on us driving her around. We weren't even sure she could take her driver's test yet because of her leg, but she got the go ahead from her doctor last week. Its strong enough now, but it's also not the leg she uses the pedals with, so I think that worked in her favor too. It would be a bummer if she had to wait longer, but thankfully she got cleared to drive.
Now she is a sophomore in high school which means that she has three years left before she is off to college. One would think that's a long time, but it's really not. I've learned over the years of having kids that time passes by in an instant and before you know it, they are grown-ups. It feels like it was only yesterday that she learned to walk and now she is learning to drive.
Eventually the car pulls into the parking lot, and she parks the car. Aurora and I are waiting anxiously for her to get the result but when she come out of the car, she has a big smile on her face and come running over to give us a big hug "I passed!" she beams and show me the sheet that confirms it.
"Congratulations Elliana. I'm so proud of you sweetie" I tell her and give her another big hug before we go inside and get her temporary license that she can use until she gets her real one in the mail.
Brandon, one of our securities drove the car here and is standing outside and holding it up for her. "Drive safely please" he says sternly to her before breaking into a smile and giving her a big hug. He is one of the security guards that have stuck around since before she was born, so he is almost like a part of the family.
She gets the keys and dance around the parking lot really excited. Seeing her smile like this makes the nerves I have go away because she is sparkling with happiness. Seeing how she isn't scared of this, she has gained a confidence this last year that is undeniable, you are blind if you can't see how much she has changed.
-taylors pov-
Kenzie's oncologist comes into her room to talk about what comes next. "hello miss Mackenzie. So your tumor removal of the malignant metastasized tumor on your liver was a success. So monday September 22nd, we want you to come up to the cancer center to get your first injection of the immunotherapy" the oncologist says and I'm so happy to hear that we are entering the final stage of her treatment. She is one step closer to being cancer free. Of course there is always chance that it will come back, but I'm choosing to hope for the best.
First, she gives the same explanation we have gotten several times about what the immune system is, but I get that they need to do it again. The immune system is a network of organs and cells that is working to help the body from not getting sick or to fight an illness that's already in the body. The immune system looks for cells that are not normal, like bacteria, viruses and cancer cells, and tries to destroy them.
She goes on to explain once again what immunotherapy is. It is a form of treatment that uses the body's own immune system to fight the cancerous cells. To do this they use substances that naturally is in a person's body to boost the functioning of the immune system. This helps the body be able to destroy her remaining cancer cells more effectively and hopefully help it from coming back. Because it uses substances that naturally is in a person's body it has fewer side effects.
"Do you have any questions, Mackenzie? Or does mom have any questions?" the doctor asks after she is finished explaining. "As long as I get to go home and go back to school, I'm good" kenzie announces.
"Then we will see you every other monday at the clinic to get the medicine through your port. We will do this for at least six months, and you will still get scans and blood tests to make sure the rest of your body is doing okay" she says and says goodbye before she leaves Kenzie's room.
After a little while aurora, Ellie and joe comes into the hospital room. Joe is carrying the cake and paper plates; aurora is carrying soda and cups while Ellie is dangling her car keys. "I passed" she beams and run over to give me a hug. "Congratulations sweetie. I'm so proud of you" I say and kiss the side of her face.
"now you can drive me around" kenzie says and Ellie gives her a hug too "happy 16th birthday Ellie" kenzie says and give her a drawing she made yesterday. "i'm sure I can drive you sometimes kenzie" she says and sit down on her bed.
We sit around the room eating cake together and talking about how exited Ellie is to drive, how exited aurora is to go to the camp for the national team next month, and hoe exited kenzie is to get out of the hospital and start school again.
"Mom when is your new music coming out?" Ellie asks and I smile her "a new single in October, a new single in November and then the album in early January. It's going to be fun"
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There is only one chapter left of this book and that makes me really emotional. It's been a long road from when I started this book, and now it's coming to an end in the next chapter. But dont worry because comming up next is the ellie spinoff
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