Grateful

Grateful

By Emerald Woods

This can't be happening to me. It just can't be happening! This can't be real, no way! There must be a mistake. I have been eating way more pizza than I usually do, I haven't exercised a lot, buy I could still go for long walks and run for my train to go to work. Aside from my days off, I mainly ate healthy foods. I drank avocado smoothies in the morning and always, okay, not always ate fish and veggies. I would eat at my favorite chinese restaurant twice a week, but I would try not to overindulge. Yet, here I am, lying in bed at one in the morning, my bright screen shining in the darkness as I read my lab results.

I scroll down to the bottom of the chart, where in red text it reads: "Foreign cell mutation located in the blood." What the hell is that? I think, feeling my heart begin to pound inside my chest. There's a foreign mutation in my blood. I was always healthy before, but now that I am twenty eight years old, it's like my body is becoming completely different. In my teenage years, I was always active and always had a six pack that most guys would kill for. I was a vegan back then and it was always hard for me to gain weight.

Since then, I became less active and ate more fast food and drinked more soda and Kamikaze. When I saw how soft my stomach became, I made a goal to eat more healthy foods, but I suppose that plan didn't go so well since I have these test results now. I turn off my phone and pull the warm blankets over my head as I try to sleep. But my mind flows like a river with thoughts in my head. What if I can't eat my favorite foods anymore? What if I have to diet? What if this unknown mutation is cancer? What if it's been caught too late? What if I die in my sleep?! I'm so worried about what's going on with my body, but I try my best to close my eyes and fall asleep amongst the cacophony inside.

"...A new day dawning, comes without warning, so don't look twice, we live in troubled times!" My roommate, Gaius, sang as he lifts omelets out of the skillet, all while dancing to green day. "Whoo-ooo!" He places plates of  strawberry omelets in front of me and Eurydice and twirls to the fridge.  Gaius and I have been roommates for several months. He was a pretty joyful man to be around. He was a make up artist who was very effeminate and sweet to everyone.  His girlfriend, Eurydice was just as pleasant, always designing clothes for everyone. Gaius looks at me with concern. "Rebel? Why aren't you eating? You love my omelets." He asks.  I shake my head. "I'm fine, just tired. I'm going back to the doctors office today." Shock fills his grey eyes. " They found something, didn't they?" "Yeah, but I'm sure it isn't anything serious." I say, attempting to hide my fear with a false smile. Gaius looks dubious, and gives me a warm cup of tea. "We're here if anything goes wrong." He says. "But nothing will." I respond, confidently. But inside I know that is far from the truth.

I drive to the doctors office and am immediately ushered to a room by a nurse. My doctor walks in, peering at my charts. "Good to see you, Mr. Billings." I nod. My doctor pulls up a window on a tablet and  stretches out a small screen with my chart stats. " Now, about this foreign mutation, we've done some more tests and it looks like you have developed the Umbra disease." He says.

"The Umbra disease?!" I whisper in terror. It was the exact same disease that has recently been on the news. It's cases were expanding daily, and now I was caught in it's wake. "Regrettably, you have it. You may have noticed it in the news. Lots of people are coming in with this disease. The U. Disease basically occurs as a result of overindulging in beverages such as soda and Kamikaze. Especially Kamikaze is really high in sugar." He walks over to to his desk and grabs a small model of the stomach. He motions to it as he speaks. "It's very similar to type 2 diabetes. But instead of the body not accepting insulin, the pancreas produces too much insulin and whether or not you eat, your blood sugar levels become more elevated."

There's no way that this could be true. This doctor must be wrong! He's only been rated four stars on google maps and his website. I give him a dubious stare. "That's not right! I don't have that disease! Your diagnosis is wrong! There must be an error in your machines! I don't have the U. Disease!" I yell. The doctor maintains a calm demeanor and  explains how up to date their technology is and he even takes another scan and I get the same results. "Oh.." I quietly reply, slowly coming to terms with my diagnosis.

"Thankfully, there have been several treatments available for this disease that in time, will allow you to live a normal life. Luckily, we caught this early. So the best option would be to perform an organ transplant and monitor your glucose levels until they become more stabilized." He says. "Isn't there a way to slow my pancreas down?" I ask. "We can place a device, but it would require you to visit us weekly to remove the excess glucose. Afterwards, we will give you some meds to help you and send you to a nutritionist.. A transplant is your best option." "Okay, but isn't the transplant list very long?" To my surprise, the doctor smiles. "Here in Celsiah, we have created artificial transplants that function the same way a normal one does. It's been approved by the Fda and drastically shortened the list." "Okay, if it's going to make me feel better." I said. "Great, we'll begin immediately." The doctor says.

I'm whisked off by my doctor to an anesthesiologist and am immediately put to sleep. I'm unsure about how long I've been asleep, but I awake to someone gently shaking my arm. "Rebel?" A low voice breaks through my mist filled mind. I awake to see Gaius and Eurydice leaning over me. Gaius looks at me with worry in his grey eyes.

"Rebel? Are you alright?" I slowly begin to sit up, my chest aching in pain as I did. I wince at a sharp ache and Eurydice and Gaius gently help me sit up. "Take it slow, Rebel." Eurydice says. "Yeah, don't push yourself." Gaius says, rubbing my shoulder.

"Thanks.... guys." I say in between yawns. "How long have I been here?" "Two

days." Eurydice says. "Really?" Gaius nods, showing me the time. It was indeed two days, according to the clock. "Your doctor called me and told me you were in surgery. Eurydice and I rushed over to the hospital when they said that and we waited for you." "Yeah, living in a hospital for two days is pretty boring, so we're glad you're awake now." Eurydice says. I feel extremely grateful that Gaius and Eurydice stayed here with me. They were the first couple I lived with who didn't just cast me aside like everyone else did. They actually made me feel like family and genuinely cared about me. "You know, I couldn't believe that I had the U. disease. I thought it was a mistake." I said.

Gaius nods and Eurydice takes my hand. "I felt the same way when I found out I had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." She says. "And when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure." Gaius says. "It's very hard to come to terms with the fact that your body is changing for the worst." "Yes, as kids, we never had to worry about our diets or blood pressure or other health problems." I said. "I miss that." "So do I." Gaius says. "They didn't teach us how to cope with being diagnosed with diseases in school."

"They taught us about puberty at least." Eurydice says, laughing to herself. Gaius rolls his eyes. "Ignore her."  "In all seriousness, making diet and lifestyle changes for the benefit of your health can be overwhelming and scary at first, but as time goes by, you get better at managing the symptoms, and you learn more about it, making life easier." Eurydice says. "And it helps to have people by your side." I say, taking their hands. I'll have good days and bad days with the lifestyle changes I have to make to stay healthy, but it eases the anxiety knowing that Gaius, Eurydice and my doctors were there for me at the end of the day. It makes me hopeful that I can actually make it through the recovery process and become healthy someday.