A walk around the hospital grounds, gift shop and 4 magazines later Alice was getting a bit concerned.  They had not taken longer than Dr Shapiro has suggested but it was now over the minimum time and Alice just wanted to know Dana was safe, she just wanted to touch her and see for herself that she was ok.  Another half hour passed and Alice leapt into the air, as there was a knock on the door of the relative’s room.  It was not Dr Shapiro however, it was Sharon, Irwin and Howie Fairbanks.

“Hey Al” Howie said loosely as he engulfed Alice in a hug.

“Hey yourself! Sharon, Irwin, how are you?”

“As nervous as you I think Alice. Have you heard any news?”

“Nothing yet it’s been just over 3 hours.” Alice tried to sound casual but knew that her last 2 words betrayed how scared she was.

To Alice’s surprise Howie gently took Alice’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I’m sure they’re just being thorough, making sure it’s all gone.” Sharon replied trying to sound as equally upbeat but failing as successfully as Alice.

A further 20minutes of uncomfortable silence ensued when finally Dr Shapiro arrived at the door and closed it behind him.

“How is she?” “Where is she?” “Is she ok?” “Is she awake?”

Dr Shapiro sighed before starting.

“Dana is in recovery, she is still sedated at the moment.”

Alice visible relaxed ever so slightly at the sheer fact that Dana was alive and still breathing but instinct told her there was bad news to come.

“It was a difficult operation, more so than we had anticipated.  We had to remove a great deal of muscle and tissue. The cancer was more advanced than the scans suggested and we had to remove some auxiliary lymph nodes too.  For a body that has been weakened by a disease such as cancer an operation such as this where there has been an amount of trauma and blood loss, it is advisable to let the patient rest for as long as possible.  We therefore elected to sedate Dana for the remainder of the day and allow her to have a comfortable night. Don’t worry although this sounds scary it’s a perfectly safe procedure and will help Dana in the long run.  She will be in some amount of pain for the following few days so this will give her a head start so to speak.”