Thank you all for your patience. I need this story to progress in a certain way and at a defined pace, that makes writing it difficult some times. It also covers a topic that is very raw for me and this does not make it any easier to write. But, here is part 6. I am working on the next part now and it should be out soon.
As always, let me know what you think. Feedback is important to me. So love it or hate it, tell me why and I will work harder for you!
Enjoy
Mandijerri
Rediscovering John, Part Six: Oligodendroglioma
"My!" Maurice smiled as he opened the door to his apartment. "You look beautiful, Jeanette."
"Thank you." She smiled as she came through into the flat. "You wouldn't want to go out with a tramp now, would you?"
"I would think you could wear a bin-liner and it would be beautiful on you."
"Flattery," Jeanette smiled as she followed him into the living room, "Will get you everywhere."
"You would like an aperitif?"
"What do you have?"
"I have some Tuica, or some Hennessey if you prepare your brandy to be cognac?"
"I'll have a small Tuica." Jeanette smiled.
She wandered around the living room, looking at the different photographs Maurice had dotted around the room.
"Thank you." She smiled taking the drink. "You never said you were married." She added, pointing to the photograph on the mantle.
"Hah!" Maurice smiled. "Look at how young we were then!" He smiled. "Yes, I married, once."
"It didn't work?"
"No." Maurice smiled. "I loved her, you understand, but I wanted so much for us. Wanted us to be comfortable, to have a nice life. I concentrated so much on my work that I forgot to concentrate on her."
"What a shame." Jeanette sighed. "Bill and I never had much."
"But you had each other, and John, of course." Maurice smiled. "All I have now is my work."
"Hard work is not a bad thing." Jeanette laughed. "Look at what you have achieved!"
"But I still come home alone."
"What, a handsome man like you?"
"Yes, even a handsome man like me." Maurice smiled. "Thank you for the compliment. Would you like another or should we leave now?"
"I'll wait until we get to the restaurant." Jeanette said as she followed Maurice from the room.
He ushered her out of the front door and she waited for him to lock the flat.
"The boys are out tonight?" Maurice asked as he offered her his arm.
They walked down the stairs to the street.
"Yes, off to Alex and Gina's house, then off to see a play."
"Which one?"
"They did tell me." Jeanette smiled, "But I was so busy getting ready for tonight that I really didn't pay it much attention!"
"Alex is always off to the theatre." Maurice mused as they wandered down to the main road. "No doubt it is something obscure, intelligent and interesting."
"I really only like the big productions." Jeanette said as they waited on the corner for a taxi.
"Me too." Maurice laughed, waving his umbrella in the direction of an empty taxi.
The driver spotted them and pulled across the road for them.
"But don't tell Alex!" He laughed as he opened the door for Jeanette. "Café de Amis, Hannover Street." He added to the driver.
"Ok." The driver said as he wound his window up against the chill night air.
Maurice settled into the taxi next to Jeanette.
"Thank you for agreeing to this." He added after a while.
"Thank you for asking." She smiled. "I thought I would have to ask you!"
"I did not want to offend you."
"Bill died over a year ago." Jeanette smiled, taking his hand. "I will never forget him and will love him for the rest of my life. But I have to live as well. Bill knew that, John knows that..."
"And how is John?" Maurice asked. "Has he been back to the consultant yet?"
"Tomorrow." Jeanette sighed, turning to look out of the window.
They were coming off Highgate Road, over the railway onto Kentish Town road. The tube station slipped past on their left.
"How is he?"
"Scared." She smiled. "He tries to hide it, but I can see it in his eyes. He has the same look Bill had sometimes... oh!" She said, putting her hand to her mouth. "He will be alright, won't he, Maurice?"
"Of course he will." Maurice soothed, putting his arm around her shoulder and squeezing her gently.
"It's just... oh, Maurice." She whispered, reaching into her handbag and pulling out a tissue. "I don't know if I could cope with him having.... you know..."
"I understand. But whatever the diagnosis, we will all be strong for him. Besides, he is still a young healthy man, Jeanette. He can fight this off."
"Of course he can." She smiled, settling into his embrace as Nandos passed by outside. "I just worry. Losing Bill was horrific. To lose John..."
"I understand." Maurice whispered. "I have no children of my own, but Francois – if he were hurt..."
"It is the same." Jeanette smiled. "Do you think they know how much we worry about them?"
"Yes." Maurice replied. "They are good boys, Jeanette."
"I know." She sighed. "But hey!" She smiled. "Tonight is not about the boys or me worrying about John. It is about us having fun and enjoying ourselves."
"So it is." Maurice laughed.
"Tell me about the Café de Amis."
"Francois found it first, of course." Maurice smiled. "It is a little French Restaurant. Good food, good atmosphere and not far from Covent Garden."
"I like it there." Jeanette said. "Can we go for a walk through the market afterwards?"
"Of course we can, and maybe a drink as well." Maurice added. "Although I doubt the market will be on when we finish our meal."
"It will be nice just to walk a little." Jeanette said. "I feel I have rushed around so much of late, to and from Aylesbury twice in as many weeks. I need time just to unwind, you understand?"
"Perfectly." Maurice laughed. "And tomorrow we will be there with John, yes?"
"Yes." She said.
Outside the taxi turned off Kentish Town Road onto Camden Street. They were both silent for a time as the houses of north London slid past the taxi in the early evening traffic.
"Dancing with Mary Shelley." Jeanette suddenly said. "That is the play they are going to see tonight."
"I do not know it." Maurice said. "Sounds very literary."
"Yes, I remember John saying much the same. Alex and Francois are all excited about it. He and Gina are going for a night out and the meal after!"
"That would be about the truth of it!" Maurice smiled. "Where are they eating?"
"The Cafe Boheme, I think Francois said."
"I have eaten there. Very nice." Maurice said.
"I forget how cosmopolitan London is, really!" Jeanette laughed. "In Aylesbury going out to a restaurant is an event. Here it is second nature!"
"It is still an event." Maurice assured her. "We just have so many restaurants we can have more events!"
"Well said!" She laughed. "Perhaps we should go see a show as well."
"Tonight?"
"No. On our next date."
"I am honoured you want to go out with me again!" Maurice laughed. "We haven't got through tonight yet!"
"But we will." Jeanette smiled. "Just like we will get through tomorrow."
"John, welcome!" The Doctor said as he stood and came over to shake John's hand.
He shook Francois' hand as well.
"S'il vous plaît soyez assis." He added in French indicating the chairs in front of his desk.
"Thank you, doctor." John said as they sat.
"Please, call me Arnaud." The doctor said. "There is too much formality in the world sometimes." He smiled.
"Thank you, Arnaud." John said, then added, "You have the results?"
"Yes." Arnaud replied pulling some images from a folder on his desk. "I have the results."
He passed the pictures across to the two of them.
"The MRI takes thousands of images, slices through your brain, if you like." He explained. "Here are just ten of those slices, they are from your temporal lobe on the left side of your head, John."
They were silent as they flicked through the images.
"What is this?" Francois asked.
"I believe it to be a tumour." The doctor said.
John said nothing, just clenched Francois' hand tighter.
"A tumour?" He asked.
"I know how that sounds, Francois... John. But just because it is there does not mean it is dangerous. Its size is what has caused the seizures..."
"Is it malignant?" John asked after a moment.
"From the images I cannot say if it is malignant or benign." The doctor replied. "We will need further tests and a biopsy for that."
He paused and pulled John's other hand into his.
"What I can tell you is we suspect this to be what we call an oligodendroglioma." He explained. "One in twenty brain tumours is of this type. They form from a substance called Myelin that covers the nerves of your brain."
"I... I don't know what to ask!" John protested.
"It is OK, John." The doctor soothed. "I have not given you the best news of the day. Information is what is important here. The more you know, the more comfortable you will be with the condition."
He handed some pamphlets across to John. Francois took them.
"There are websites also, listed in the last leaflet. There are also people who you can talk to, John. People who have gone through the process you are just starting."
John said nothing. He just sat and stared at the doctor. The man's mouth was moving but he was no longer making sense. He had a tumour... a brain tumour... in his brain...
Cancer.
He had cancer.
"I need mum..." He whispered, tears forming in his eyes.
"Doctor?" Francois asked.
"She is here?"
"In the waiting room."
"Her name?" The Doctor asked standing.
"Jeanette Allen."
"Stay with John, I will go get her." The doctor said as he left the room.
"Thank you." Francois said, then he turned to John. "I am here, John." He whispered, pulling him into a hug.
"I need you to make this go away." John whispered into his shoulder. "Tell me you can do this."
"I will make it go away!" Francois said, tears coming to his own eyes now. "I promised you I would keep you safe, John. Toujours et à jamais. This does not change that."
"I have cancer!" John cried. "How can we fight that?"
"No." Francois sobbed. "No, John. You have a tumour, a growth in your head. They can take it out, it will go away!"
"It killed dad..."
"You will not die!" Francois sobbed, putting his own head on John's shoulder. "I will not allow it!"
"I... I need you, Francois."
"I am here."
"John!" It was Jeanette, she whirled into the room, pulled them both into a hug, held them close to her. "Baby, I am here. We will fight this."
"I'm scared, mum!" John sobbed as she pulled him into her arms.
Behind her Maurice pulled Francois from his chair and into a tight clench.
"Je ne sais pas quoi faire, Maurice!" Francois whispered into the man's shoulder.
"Vous l'aimez, François. Nous ferons tous." Maurice replied. "It is all any of us can do." He added in English.
"So doctor." Jeanette said after a moment, she still had John wrapped up in her hug. Tell me about this thing in my son's head."
"Very well." He said, settling into his chair again. "It is called an oligodendroglioma. Glioma will do for now." He added. "They can be fast or slow growing and low or high-grade."
"What does that mean?" Jeanette asked.
"Low-grade tumours are slow growing and more likely to be benign. High-grade are faster growing and can be classed as malignant."
"And what are the treatment options?" Jeanette asked.
"First I need to do a biopsy. Find out what we are working with. That will also give us more information on the tumour itself and that will suggest treatment options."
"And how can you treat it?" Jeanette asked.
"In many cases surgery will be enough." The doctor assured her. "After that we watch and wait. If the tumour grows back we can consider chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I would prefer to take a biopsy and then look at removing the tumour."
"And that is possible?"
"Yes, although there is a chance that even a benign tumour will grow back. Further MRI scans will track that, though."
"Very well." Jeanette said, pulling John's face up so he was looking at her. "This is not like with your father, John. We have options and a plan."
"I'm still scared, mum."
"Of course you are, love. So am I. But we have some options. The biopsy, doctor, when can we do that?"
"John is in good health apart from the tumour." The doctor noted. "I would like to do the biopsy as soon as possible. I will suggest an appointment for next week. Is that alright?"
"Perfect." Jeanette smiled. "What will happen?"
"John will come into the hospital and stay for one, maybe two days. The operation will see a small hole drilled in his skull through which a needle will be placed. I will take a sample of the tumour and it will be sent off for analysis. This will give us all the information we need."
"We can do this, John, yes?"
"Yes." He whispered, looking over to Francois who was still holding onto Maurice. "I can do it."
"Good." Jeanette said. "And when you know what sort of tumour it is?"
"Then we will operate." The doctor said. "Another stay in the hospital, longer this time."
"And after that?" John asked.
"After that we will wait and see what the tumour decides to do." The doctor said. "It is difficult to remove an oligodendroglioma completely, it is closely woven into the main tissues of your brain, John. The MRI will help there. After the operation we will see what it does. If it starts to come back, we will use chemotherapy to control it."
"But not before?" Jeanette asked.
"No, surgery is the best option for this sort of tumour. You will be prescribed some steroid tables for before and after the main operation to control the swelling. I will also prescribe a course of epilepsy tablets for after the operation. We know you are already suffering from seizures, the operation will bruise your brain and that might see them continue. We can manage that with drugs."
"You make it all sound so straight-forward." John smiled.
"And it will be, I promise." The doctor said.
"We can get information from these leaflets?" Jeanette asked putting them into her bag.
"And from the internet." John said. "There are some addresses on the leaflets."
"Good." Jeanette added. "And there are support groups?"
"Everything is in the leaflets." The doctor told her.
"Then we have everything we need at the moment." She said standing up and helping John to his feet. "Thank you doctor. We will see you at the biopsy?"
"Yes." He said reaching out and shaking her hand. "And this is my contact information." He added passing her a card. "I cannot guarantee to be on the end of a phone but I will return calls and emails when I can."
"Thank you." Jeanette said. She went over and pulled Francois to her side. "We have information this time." She whispered kissing first John and then Francois on the head. "And we are in control."
She led them from the room as Maurice held open the door for her.