These Doors Have Keys
And Your Eyes Were Lined With Questions
Chelsea Cavazos stared at the doctor in front of her, trying to figure out if she had somehow misunderstood what he had just told her. “What?” she asked, pulling her long, blonde hair back into a ponytail, a nervous habit of hers. “Can you say that again?”
“You have leukemia,” Dr. Stewarts repeated. Chelsea just blinked at him, at a loss for words. Sure, she had prepared for the worst when she had gone to the doctors after she had started losing a lot of weight, making her once toned body now appear emaciated, and once she began to get out of breath extremely easily. The doctors had done numerous tests, including a blood test, which was what helped the doctors determine that she had leukemia. “Acute lymphocytic leukemia, to be more specific,” Dr. Stewarts continued.
“I don’t even know what that is,” Chelsea mumbled. “What does this mean?” she asked, looking up at him. “How bad is it? Am I going to live?” she fired questions away.
“We caught the cancer relatively early, but that still doesn’t mean you’re one hundred percent in the clear. We need to give you a spinal tap in order to check to see if the cancer cells have reached your brain or spinal cord. We’ll be starting chemotherapy right away, and we might do a stem cell transplant if necessary. Do you have any siblings?” he questioned.
“Yeah, I have a twin sister,” Chelsea answered, referring to Taryn, her sister she hadn’t talked to in over ten years after her parents had divorced and she went to live with their father, while Chelsea stayed with their mother. “Why are you even asking about her?”
“She would be the best bet for a bone marrow transplant. It is more likely that she’ll be a match than anyone else,” Dr. Stewarts explained.
“This is all just too much too fast,” Chelsea told him. “I just found out that I have cancer, and now you’re talking about a bone marrow transplant and a spinal tap?”
“Like I said, we’ll only do a bone marrow transplant if necessary. The spinal tap is important, however, and we’d like to schedule one as soon as possible.”
“I need to talk to Brent,” she muttered, referring to her boyfriend, Brent Seabrook, who was currently at hockey practice with the Chicago Blackhawks. “Just let me talk to him, and I promise I’ll schedule the spinal tap right afterwards,” she told him.
“Okay,” Dr. Stewarts told her. “But, just so you know, this needs to be done as soon as possible. We’d like to get you started on chemotherapy within the next couple of days. But, go home and talk to your boyfriend, and call back and schedule a spinal tap. I’ll see you soon,” Dr. Stewarts told her with a small smile.
Chelsea nodded her head and watched as he walked out of the room. A nurse came in a few moments later with all of the papers that Chelsea would need, including a bunch of information on acute lymphocytic leukemia. She took it all and made her way back outside to the parking lot and to her car. She got inside and leaned her head against the steering wheel, trying to digest all the information she was just given. She sighed as she leaned back and put her seat belt on, driving back to her condominium that she shared with Brent.
She went to the door and noticed that it was still locked, meaning Brent hadn’t gotten home from hockey practice yet. She went inside and sat on the couch, trying to figure out how she was going to tell him that she had leukemia. Should she just come right out and say it or try to prepare him a bit beforehand? She couldn’t think about it any longer as the front door opened, and Brent walked inside, dropping his duffle bag full of his hockey equipment next to the door.
“Hey, Chels,” he smiled, walking over to her and giving her a quick kiss. “How’d the doctor’s visit go?” he asked. Brent had been the one that had urged her to go to the doctor when he realized that she was easily out of breath and how thin she was getting.
“I think you should sit down,” Chelsea told him, pointing towards the oversized loveseat across from her.
“Chels, what’s going on?” he asked nervously, sitting down.
She stared at him for a minute, trying to figure out what to say. She took a deep breath before letting it out without saying a word. It was obvious that Brent was getting restless, and she decided not to hold out any longer. “Brent, I have leukemia,” she rushed out. Brent stared at her, speechless. “Please say something,” she begged.
“You have leukemia?” Brent asked quietly, more to himself than to Chelsea.
Chelsea nodded her head, tears stinging her eyes as everything was hitting her all at once. “Brent, I don’t know what to do. The doctor just threw a whole bunch of stuff at me. He said something about chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. He was asking if I had any siblings because he said that if I need a transplant, it would be better to get one from a sibling.”
Brent took a deep breath, trying to comprehend everything she was saying. “Did he say how bad the cancer is? Did he say if they caught it early enough or anything?” he asked.
“He said that they caught it early, but they need to do a spinal tap soon to see if the cancer has reached my brain or spinal cord. Brent, why did this happen to me?” she asked, not caring as the tears spilled down her cheeks. “Cancer. I have cancer,” she repeated under her breath, as if saying it multiple times would make it sink in for her.
Brent stood up and moved to sit next to Chelsea, pulling her into his arms. “You said you need to have a spinal tap?” he asked quietly, and Chelsea nodded her head, which was currently buried in his chest. “When are you having it done?”
“He said as soon as possible. I wanted to come home and talk to you about everything first, though,” she said.
“Why don’t you call them and see when you can get in. The sooner, the better. And, no matter when it is, I’m going to go with you,” he promised her.
“What?” Chelsea asked, moving her head to look up at him. “Brent, in case you forgot, the Blackhawks’ preseason just started. You can’t start missing practices already.”
“Q will understand,” he told her, referring to his coach, Joel Quenneville. “And, if you can get an appointment when I’m not at practice, then great. If the soonest they can get you in is during one of my practices, then I’ll skip that one. Chels, you’re more important to me than the team. This is about your health, and I’m going to be there with you.”
“Thank you,” Chelsea told him, leaning up and kissing him.
“And, I think you might want to call Taryn when you get a chance,” he told her, and Chelsea looked up at him in shock. They never mentioned her sister. Brent knew that Chelsea and her didn’t talk anymore, and she was surprised to hear him even suggest talking to her. “Chels, you said that the doctors said that if you need a bone marrow transplant, you’d be better off with your sister. I know you and her don’t talk anymore, but I think you need to call her and explain what’s going on.”
“They don’t even know if I’m going to need to have a transplant,” Chelsea argued. “If I need one, I’ll call her. Until then, there’s no point.”
“What happened between the two of you?” Brent asked. In the nearly two years that they had been dating, Brent had never gotten the whole story out of her. “Is it that bad that you’re willing to risk your life just so you don’t have to talk to her?” he questioned.
“I told you that I’d call her if I needed the transplant!” Chelsea snapped.
“Chelsea, you need to call her before then! You can’t just call her the day you find out that you need it and expect her just to come running. Call her now, explain everything to her, and then if that day comes, you’ll know you’ll have somebody there for you,” Brent told her.
“I don’t even know if she’ll be a donor for me.”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” Brent asked. “Are you telling me that if you got a call today from her telling you that she was just diagnosed with leukemia and needed you to be a bone marrow donor for her that you wouldn’t get on a plane right now and help her out?”
“Of course I would,” Chelsea told him.
“Then what’s so different about her?”
“I tried calling her five years ago,” Chelsea said suddenly, and Brent gave her his full attention, having never heard this from her before. “Right after we had turned eighteen. I hadn’t talked to her in five years since she went to live with our dad, and I stayed with Mom. She told me that she wanted nothing to do with me. She didn’t want to talk to me. She didn’t want to see me. She wanted nothing to do with me,” she recalled. “So, I doubt she’s going to be so willing to give me some bone marrow,” Chelsea told him.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” he asked her.
“There was no reason for me to,” she answered. “But, that’s why I’m so hesitant to call her again. Because at least if I don’t call her, I’ll have some sort of hope that she’d be there for me if I needed her. But, if I call her and she says she doesn’t want anything to do with me again, then I know that I have no one to be a donor,” she explained.
Brent nodded his head in understanding. “Why don’t you call the doctors and get an appointment to get that spinal tap as soon as possible,” Brent told her, switching subjects, as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
“I’ll do it right now,” Chelsea said, grabbing her phone and dialing the doctor’s number. Five minutes later, she hung up the phone, and Brent looked over at her expectantly. “Ten tomorrow morning,” she answered his unspoken question.
“I won’t even have to miss practice,” he told her with a small smile. He saw that she was still frowning, and he knew she was scared, not that he could blame her. He was having a hard enough time dealing with everything she had just told him, and he wasn’t the person that was going through all of this. Instead, he was madly in love with that person. “You’re going to make it through this,” he promised her. “You’re the strongest person I know, and you’ll beat this,” he said, kissing her temple.
“I hope so,” she muttered.
“You have leukemia,” Dr. Stewarts repeated. Chelsea just blinked at him, at a loss for words. Sure, she had prepared for the worst when she had gone to the doctors after she had started losing a lot of weight, making her once toned body now appear emaciated, and once she began to get out of breath extremely easily. The doctors had done numerous tests, including a blood test, which was what helped the doctors determine that she had leukemia. “Acute lymphocytic leukemia, to be more specific,” Dr. Stewarts continued.
“I don’t even know what that is,” Chelsea mumbled. “What does this mean?” she asked, looking up at him. “How bad is it? Am I going to live?” she fired questions away.
“We caught the cancer relatively early, but that still doesn’t mean you’re one hundred percent in the clear. We need to give you a spinal tap in order to check to see if the cancer cells have reached your brain or spinal cord. We’ll be starting chemotherapy right away, and we might do a stem cell transplant if necessary. Do you have any siblings?” he questioned.
“Yeah, I have a twin sister,” Chelsea answered, referring to Taryn, her sister she hadn’t talked to in over ten years after her parents had divorced and she went to live with their father, while Chelsea stayed with their mother. “Why are you even asking about her?”
“She would be the best bet for a bone marrow transplant. It is more likely that she’ll be a match than anyone else,” Dr. Stewarts explained.
“This is all just too much too fast,” Chelsea told him. “I just found out that I have cancer, and now you’re talking about a bone marrow transplant and a spinal tap?”
“Like I said, we’ll only do a bone marrow transplant if necessary. The spinal tap is important, however, and we’d like to schedule one as soon as possible.”
“I need to talk to Brent,” she muttered, referring to her boyfriend, Brent Seabrook, who was currently at hockey practice with the Chicago Blackhawks. “Just let me talk to him, and I promise I’ll schedule the spinal tap right afterwards,” she told him.
“Okay,” Dr. Stewarts told her. “But, just so you know, this needs to be done as soon as possible. We’d like to get you started on chemotherapy within the next couple of days. But, go home and talk to your boyfriend, and call back and schedule a spinal tap. I’ll see you soon,” Dr. Stewarts told her with a small smile.
Chelsea nodded her head and watched as he walked out of the room. A nurse came in a few moments later with all of the papers that Chelsea would need, including a bunch of information on acute lymphocytic leukemia. She took it all and made her way back outside to the parking lot and to her car. She got inside and leaned her head against the steering wheel, trying to digest all the information she was just given. She sighed as she leaned back and put her seat belt on, driving back to her condominium that she shared with Brent.
She went to the door and noticed that it was still locked, meaning Brent hadn’t gotten home from hockey practice yet. She went inside and sat on the couch, trying to figure out how she was going to tell him that she had leukemia. Should she just come right out and say it or try to prepare him a bit beforehand? She couldn’t think about it any longer as the front door opened, and Brent walked inside, dropping his duffle bag full of his hockey equipment next to the door.
“Hey, Chels,” he smiled, walking over to her and giving her a quick kiss. “How’d the doctor’s visit go?” he asked. Brent had been the one that had urged her to go to the doctor when he realized that she was easily out of breath and how thin she was getting.
“I think you should sit down,” Chelsea told him, pointing towards the oversized loveseat across from her.
“Chels, what’s going on?” he asked nervously, sitting down.
She stared at him for a minute, trying to figure out what to say. She took a deep breath before letting it out without saying a word. It was obvious that Brent was getting restless, and she decided not to hold out any longer. “Brent, I have leukemia,” she rushed out. Brent stared at her, speechless. “Please say something,” she begged.
“You have leukemia?” Brent asked quietly, more to himself than to Chelsea.
Chelsea nodded her head, tears stinging her eyes as everything was hitting her all at once. “Brent, I don’t know what to do. The doctor just threw a whole bunch of stuff at me. He said something about chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. He was asking if I had any siblings because he said that if I need a transplant, it would be better to get one from a sibling.”
Brent took a deep breath, trying to comprehend everything she was saying. “Did he say how bad the cancer is? Did he say if they caught it early enough or anything?” he asked.
“He said that they caught it early, but they need to do a spinal tap soon to see if the cancer has reached my brain or spinal cord. Brent, why did this happen to me?” she asked, not caring as the tears spilled down her cheeks. “Cancer. I have cancer,” she repeated under her breath, as if saying it multiple times would make it sink in for her.
Brent stood up and moved to sit next to Chelsea, pulling her into his arms. “You said you need to have a spinal tap?” he asked quietly, and Chelsea nodded her head, which was currently buried in his chest. “When are you having it done?”
“He said as soon as possible. I wanted to come home and talk to you about everything first, though,” she said.
“Why don’t you call them and see when you can get in. The sooner, the better. And, no matter when it is, I’m going to go with you,” he promised her.
“What?” Chelsea asked, moving her head to look up at him. “Brent, in case you forgot, the Blackhawks’ preseason just started. You can’t start missing practices already.”
“Q will understand,” he told her, referring to his coach, Joel Quenneville. “And, if you can get an appointment when I’m not at practice, then great. If the soonest they can get you in is during one of my practices, then I’ll skip that one. Chels, you’re more important to me than the team. This is about your health, and I’m going to be there with you.”
“Thank you,” Chelsea told him, leaning up and kissing him.
“And, I think you might want to call Taryn when you get a chance,” he told her, and Chelsea looked up at him in shock. They never mentioned her sister. Brent knew that Chelsea and her didn’t talk anymore, and she was surprised to hear him even suggest talking to her. “Chels, you said that the doctors said that if you need a bone marrow transplant, you’d be better off with your sister. I know you and her don’t talk anymore, but I think you need to call her and explain what’s going on.”
“They don’t even know if I’m going to need to have a transplant,” Chelsea argued. “If I need one, I’ll call her. Until then, there’s no point.”
“What happened between the two of you?” Brent asked. In the nearly two years that they had been dating, Brent had never gotten the whole story out of her. “Is it that bad that you’re willing to risk your life just so you don’t have to talk to her?” he questioned.
“I told you that I’d call her if I needed the transplant!” Chelsea snapped.
“Chelsea, you need to call her before then! You can’t just call her the day you find out that you need it and expect her just to come running. Call her now, explain everything to her, and then if that day comes, you’ll know you’ll have somebody there for you,” Brent told her.
“I don’t even know if she’ll be a donor for me.”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” Brent asked. “Are you telling me that if you got a call today from her telling you that she was just diagnosed with leukemia and needed you to be a bone marrow donor for her that you wouldn’t get on a plane right now and help her out?”
“Of course I would,” Chelsea told him.
“Then what’s so different about her?”
“I tried calling her five years ago,” Chelsea said suddenly, and Brent gave her his full attention, having never heard this from her before. “Right after we had turned eighteen. I hadn’t talked to her in five years since she went to live with our dad, and I stayed with Mom. She told me that she wanted nothing to do with me. She didn’t want to talk to me. She didn’t want to see me. She wanted nothing to do with me,” she recalled. “So, I doubt she’s going to be so willing to give me some bone marrow,” Chelsea told him.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” he asked her.
“There was no reason for me to,” she answered. “But, that’s why I’m so hesitant to call her again. Because at least if I don’t call her, I’ll have some sort of hope that she’d be there for me if I needed her. But, if I call her and she says she doesn’t want anything to do with me again, then I know that I have no one to be a donor,” she explained.
Brent nodded his head in understanding. “Why don’t you call the doctors and get an appointment to get that spinal tap as soon as possible,” Brent told her, switching subjects, as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
“I’ll do it right now,” Chelsea said, grabbing her phone and dialing the doctor’s number. Five minutes later, she hung up the phone, and Brent looked over at her expectantly. “Ten tomorrow morning,” she answered his unspoken question.
“I won’t even have to miss practice,” he told her with a small smile. He saw that she was still frowning, and he knew she was scared, not that he could blame her. He was having a hard enough time dealing with everything she had just told him, and he wasn’t the person that was going through all of this. Instead, he was madly in love with that person. “You’re going to make it through this,” he promised her. “You’re the strongest person I know, and you’ll beat this,” he said, kissing her temple.
“I hope so,” she muttered.
