Second Chance

Chapter 1 As I walk out of the doctor's office my mind was blank. I knew there was a huge outcome of me having cancer but another huge part of me was hoping it wasn't true. The doctors positive I'll beat it since we caught it at its early stage, so I start chemo tomorrow. If everything goes good I may be able to get surgery to cut the tumor out but all we can do is wait. Now I had to go home and tell my family. I'm not sure how my family will take it. It was only my father, my older brother James, my younger sister Hope and myself. Our mother left us when I was seven because she wanted freedom and to not be tied down with three kids. All of us were pretty close with each other so I was for sure positive they wouldn't take the news well. They all knew I was heading to the doctors, they just assumed it was for a normal check-up instead. Little did they know I was going to talk with my doctor about my test results that concluded I have cancer. I, Leighton Rae Jones, just turned 19 a few months ago, along with graduating high school. I planned to go to college close by to be a photographer, but now I'll have to put that on hold or try online classes instead. I know after I start treatment I may not have the strength or energy to take photos. I'll just have to take it one day at a time. Maybe I'll start my project of taking pictures of myself before, during, and after treatment. It'll show people how chemo can change you. My brother James was 3 years older than me and was engaged to his fiancee Jodi. He is finishing up his final year in college for business and then him and Jodi were going to get married. After they come back from their honeymoon Jodi wants to open up her own business and James will take over my dad's small business. Then you have my younger sister Hope who is 12. Me and her were close even though we have a big age gap between us. I know she'll take my news the hardest. Dad has tried the dating world so Hope could have a mom figure but they only want his money. My dad owned a small company that was big in our town. We weren't overly rich but we were above the middle class and was able to buy top named things. So Millie didn't have anyone to help her with girl problems except me and sometimes Jodi. Our mother left a couple of months after she was born to go and live her life of freedom. The closer I got home, the more nervous I was. I decided to tell them at dinner since everyone would be there, even Jodi. I couldn't keep this from them no matter how it would turn a happy family dinner to a sad tensed one in the matter of zero to 10 seconds. Upon arriving home I plastered a fake smile on my face, not ready to show my emotions just yet. Deep down I was scared because I wasn't sure what was going to happen in the future. Now I just need to take it one day at a time and pray for the best. -------------------------------------------------- " Dinners ready," Dad yelled. It was now or never and I felt sick, but I knew it had to be done. I needed their support more than anything to help me get through all of this. Once we were all sat at the table we started dishing out the food to everyone, my dad asked me the one question I was dreading the most. "Sweetie, how was your appointment?" "Umm.....would you like the truth or a lie?" I asked. To say I wasn't nervous was a lie. My hands were shaking and started getting clammy.  "The truth of course," "Umm..well...Just so you know, I love you all and I don't want to be treated like a fragile person. okay?" "Okay?" they all said as a question. "well you see, I have stage 2 cancer," Silence was all I got besides the noise of the utensils being dropped. I looked at everyone's facial expressions, Hope was about to cry, James and Jodi held blank looks not sure if I was lying or not, and well my dad looked like a fish out of the water not sure what to say. "You're not joking are you?" James asked me. "I wish I was," "When do you start treatment? I mean you are getting treatment right?" James asked. "Of course, Your not getting rid of me yet," I tried making light of the situation. "But I start tomorrow the doctor wants to stop it from spreading. He also said there's a chance for surgery later on to remove the tumor," The rest of the dinner was silent. Everyone was trying to process what I had just told them and you could tell that none of them knew what to think of the situation. They were all surprised just as much as I was. "I can drop you off to your appointment on my way to work, but you'll need a ride home because I have meetings," Dad said. "I can pick you up afterward, just text me when you're about done," Jodi added. "Thanks, I'll let you know. The doctor said it'll be two hours long, but I'm going to go ahead and head up to bed. I love you guys," After a course of I love yous and good nights, I headed upstairs with my thoughts running wild. I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep, so I decided to do some research on the effects of having chemo done. I knew the biggest one was going to be losing my hair eventually. I wasn't ready for that, I loved my blue hair. I usually changed my hair color every three months, but looks like I might have to change to wigs now. Some of the other effects were fatigue, nausea and vomiting, appetite changes, and weight change. I wasn't fat but I also wasn't super skinny. I weighed 131 and what scared me was losing any more weight. I was happy where I was at and now everything was about to change. With that final thought, I willed myself to sleep so I could start my new life tomorrow. ----------------------------------- The next morning was harder to get up than I had imagined. I wasn't ready to start this new chapter in my life but I know the sooner I start my treatment the better. It was only 9 a.m. and my appointment wasn't until noon. I was a ball of nerves at this point. I finally managed to drag myself out of bed 20 minutes later, and did my morning routine. Once out of the shower I decided to just wear sweats and a long-sleeved band tee and then pulled my hair up into a messy bun on top of my head. Making my way downstairs I noticed everyone was in a dull mood. That's something I didn't want, just because I'm sick they need to go on with their normal lives. "Morning," I said as happy as I could make myself sound. "Morning honey. How are you feeling?" dad asked me. "I feel good for now, I know after treatment there's a chance I won't," I knew I couldn't lie, they would see right through me. Dad nodded his head in agreement and we went about eating our breakfast with small chit chat about school and the business. After breakfast was over I still had an hour before we needed to leave the house. As time slowly ticked by my nerves were getting worse. I don't know how today was going to go and that didn't help with my nerves at all. To help pass the time I decided to take my first picture of my tiny project that I wanted to start. Once I took the selfie I uploaded it on my laptop and labeled it with the date and that it was the first day of treatment. When I had ten minutes left before we needed to leave I made sure to pack my laptop, a book to read and a blanket. I was told that when having chemo done you may get cold. As soon as everything was gathered I was leaving my house and on my way to my first treatment.