After the CT scan on June 26, we entered another long and painful waiting period.
Waiting for medical results is something that only those who have experienced it can truly understand.
Your mind keeps creating different possibilities.
You try to stay positive.
You tell yourself, “It will probably be okay.”
But at the same time, another voice inside keeps asking:
“What if something is seriously wrong?”
After everything we had already been through with cancer, every test result felt like a life-changing moment.
This was not just another scan.
For us, the CT result meant one important question:
Would she need another surgery?
Watching Her Suffer Was the Hardest Part
While waiting for the results, my wife was lying in the hospital bed.
She was receiving intravenous fluids, and a tube had been inserted through her nose into her stomach to remove the fluid that had built up.
The doctors explained that the yellowish fluid, sometimes mixed with a slight green color, was stomach fluid.
Seeing that tube connected to her, seeing how weak she had become, was extremely painful.
This was the same person who, not long ago, was living a normal daily life.
Now she was lying in a hospital bed again.
I looked at her and suddenly felt a pain deep inside my chest.
Tears came without warning.
I kept asking myself:
“Why did this happen to us?”
“Why does this difficult journey keep continuing?”
Cancer had already changed our lives.
But just when we thought we were recovering from one difficult chapter, another problem appeared.
As a caregiver, there are moments when you feel completely helpless.
You want to take away the pain.
You want to carry the burden yourself.
But all you can do is stand beside the person you love and wait.
The Doctor Finally Came
In the afternoon, the doctor came to explain the CT scan results.
For a moment, my heart was beating faster.
I was preparing myself for bad news.
Then the doctor said:
“The intestine is not twisted.”
I immediately felt a wave of relief.
The doctor continued:
“There is swelling in the area above the intestine, which was blocking the passage. The cause appears to be food poisoning.”
Food poisoning.
Those words sounded almost unbelievable.
After fearing another major surgery, after imagining the worst possible situation, hearing that the problem was caused by inflammation and could be treated without surgery felt like a miracle.
The treatment plan was:
- Antibiotics through IV
- Rest
- Close observation
No operation.
No additional surgery.
That was the best news we could have hoped for.
A Small Moment of Hope
When I told my wife the result, I could see a change in her face.
The fear that had been there started to disappear.
For the first time in days, her expression looked lighter.
She was relieved.
I was relieved.
We both knew that this was not the end of our cancer journey.
There were still many unknowns ahead.
The results of cancer mutation tests and Tagrisso resistance tests were still pending.
There were still many challenges waiting for us.
But at that moment, we were simply grateful.
Grateful that her body would not have to go through another surgery.
Grateful that we could take one more step forward.
What This Experience Taught Me
Cancer has taught us that life can change within a single moment.
A scan.
A phone call.
A doctor walking into the room.
Sometimes these small moments carry the weight of an entire world.
As a caregiver, I learned that the hardest part is not always the treatment itself.
Sometimes the hardest part is the waiting.
Waiting for results.
Waiting for answers.
Waiting and hoping that the person you love will be okay.
On this day, we were given a small piece of good news.
And for that moment, it was enough.
To be continued: Recovery After the Second Hospital Admission — Learning to Move Forward Again
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