193 Myeloma
At three in the afternoon, Gu Man received a notice from Director Lei of Yunshan Hospital, asking her to go to the hospital.
Initially, Huang Jun wanted to accompany her, but Gu Man said, “I have an appointment to send Cousin to school at 3:30. Uncle, send him to the car later. I can go to the hospital alone.”
Huang Jun said helplessly, “Alright, Manman. No matter what the results are, tell Uncle when you come back. We’ll study it together.”
Gu Man nodded.
Huang Jun looked at Gu Man’s calm face and felt a sense of heartache and pride. His heart ached for Gu Man, who had to take charge at such a young age. Girls this age still relied on their parents for everything, but now, she had become the person her family relied on. However, he was also proud. Although Gu Man was young, she had never panicked in the face of danger. It was as if she had the ability to bear the brunt of anything.
Gu Man said to Huang Jue, “Cousin, remember to study hard when you get back to school. You have to take care of your health too.”
Huang Jue nodded obediently. “Cousin, don’t worry. I’m going to get into Han City First High in the future. I’ll definitely work hard.”
Gu Man nodded at Huang Jue encouragingly and left.
She followed the route she had taken in the morning and found Director Lei’s office. Gu Man knocked on the door and heard a voice say, “Come in.”
Director Lei looked up and saw that it was Gu Man. He quickly stood up and greeted her, “Sit down first, Miss Gu Man.”
Gu Man thanked her and sat down. “How’s my grandmother’s examination?”
On the way just now, Gu Man was actually already mentally prepared for the worst. After all, if it was nothing serious, Director Lei would not have asked her to come to the hospital again.
Sure enough, Director Lei said, “It’s not very optimistic, but it’s not too serious. After our examination, we determined that it’s myeloma.”
“Myeloma?” Gu Man was not familiar with the current scientific names of diseases.
“It’s considered a type of cancer. There are symptoms like bleeding in the early stages, anemia, bone pain, and so on. In the late stages, there will be headaches, numbness in the hands and feet, and so on. Fortunately, your grandmother’s myeloma is considered to be in the early stages now, but the early symptoms are often too obvious. Many patients will ignore them. If there’s bleeding or bone pain, they’ll think it’s gum bleeding, arthritis, and so on. Now that we know what it is, we’ll seize the best time to treat it. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”
Director Lei introduced the pathology of myeloma in detail. Gu Man pursed her lips and nodded.
“What symptoms does your grandmother usually have?”
Gu Man thought for a moment and said, “I heard from my uncle that she had coughed up blood before. Then, her joints sometimes hurt. Everything else is normal.”
“These symptoms match the early symptoms of myeloma.”
Director Lei pondered for a while and said, “Myeloma destroys the immune system, so it’s best to do chemotherapy as soon as possible. But if we do chemotherapy, your grandmother is old. I’m worried that her body won’t be able to take it. If we don’t do chemotherapy, the elderly’s bodily functions are poor to begin with, and the speed of deterioration will be much faster. But if we treat her conservatively, it might not be effective in the end.”
Gu Man understood what Director Lei meant. It meant that neither of these treatments would work on Grandma.
However, she did not intend to use these two treatment methods.
She nodded at Director Lei and said, “I understand. Thank you, Director Lei. I’ll go back and discuss with my uncle what treatment to take. I’ll consult your opinion then.”
Seeing that Gu Man had already stood up to leave, Director Lei stood up. “Okay, contact me anytime if there’s anything. I’ll send you out.”
Gu Man quickly said, “Director Lei, there’s no need to send me off. Go ahead.”
“It’s fine.”
Gu Man no longer stood on ceremony. As they walked, Director Lei reminded her, “When you talk to your grandmother, you have to consider her psychological endurance. When old people hear about such a serious illness, they often want to give up on treatment. They’re afraid of dragging their juniors down. Besides, they also have a mentality of giving up.”
“I know all of this. I’ll be careful.”
Gu Man could already imagine how her grandmother would react. Although her grandmother was usually happy, she was a strong-willed person. She definitely did not want to burden Gu Man because of her.