“Did you tell her you were wrong?”
Eric hesitated.
“Yes.”
Sophie closed her eyes again.
“Good.”
The pathology report arrived two days later.
Dr. Shah gathered us in a conference room and wrote the diagnosis on a whiteboard: an hCG-secreting intracranial germ cell tumor.
The words looked less frightening than the MRI image. They were not.
“The tumor produced the hormone that caused Sophie’s positive pregnancy tests,” Dr. Shah explained. “It also disrupted the part of her brain that regulates thirst and development.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Is it cancer?”
“Yes.”
I heard the word, but my mind refused to hold it.
Dr. Shah continued. The tumor was serious, but this type could respond to chemotherapy. Sophie would receive several treatment cycles, followed by focused radiation if the oncology team believed it necessary.
“What are her chances?” Eric asked.
“We have reason to hope,” Dr. Shah said. “But treatment must begin immediately.”
