Borrowed Time

F. Brady Ralph

Description

In a desperate attempt to survive a fatal cancer diagnosis, Richard Carpenter travels back in time to meet his grandfather and get him to change his lifestyle, which might improve the genetic material that he inherited and spare him a life of medical problems.

Sujets

• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: First Edition Design Publishing
• Date de parution: 15 juillet 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781622876730
• Langue: English

Extrait

Borrowed Time
Ralph F. Brady


First Edition Design Publishing
BORROWED TIME



First Edition Design Publishing
Borrowed Time
Copyright ©2014 Ralph F. Brady

ISBN 978-1622-876-72-3 PRINT
ISBN 978-1622-876-73-0 EBOOK

LCCN 2014944289

June 2014

Published and Distributed by
First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 20217, Sarasota, FL 34276-3217
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com



ALL R I G H T S R E S E R V E D. No p a r t o f t h i s b oo k pub li ca t i o n m a y b e r e p r o du ce d, s t o r e d i n a r e t r i e v a l s y s t e m , o r t r a n s mit t e d i n a ny f o r m o r by a ny m e a ns ─ e l e c t r o n i c , m e c h a n i c a l , p h o t o - c o p y , r ec o r d i n g, or a ny o t h e r ─ e x ce pt b r i e f qu ot a t i o n i n r e v i e w s , w i t h o ut t h e p r i o r p e r mi ss i on o f t h e a u t h o r or publisher .
BORROWED TIME
A Novel by Ralph F. Brady
CHAPTER ONE


“ I’m afraid that it’s cancer again, Richard, and this time it’s a bad one."
Since his practice specialized in hematology and oncology, Dr. Krasner should have been used to delivering this kind of bad news, but it never got any easier. It was especially difficult when the patient was a younger athletic person like Richard Carpenter, so he gave him a moment to compose himself and ask the inevitable questions.
“How bad is it, and what am I going to have to face this time?”
“It’s called multiple myeloma, which means malignant blood cells in the bone marrow that are going to make you very sick. As the condition worsens the integrity of your bones will continue to deteriorate and you may be facing fractures and other structural problems that seem to have no natural cause. Further down the line it will start to affect your organs and lead to kidney failure and possible failure of other major organs, as the blood becomes too thick for them to process.”
“Okay, don’t sugarcoat it now. What’s the final outcome?”
“In the end, there could be complete organ failure that would prove fatal; but don’t give up hope yet Richard. We’re not without options. There are chemotherapy protocols that can slow down the entire process, and there is some exciting new work being done on stem cell therapy that could reverse the spread of the cancer entirely. You’ve got to keep your hopes up. I never underestimate the value of a positive attitude when a patient is facing this sort of thing. We really don’t understand how that affects the immune system, but we see cures or at least partial cures every day that we really can’t explain. You won’t be going through this alone Richard. Just like the last time, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Dr. Ronald Krasner had been treating Richard for over eight years and they had gone well beyond the doctor patient relationship and become friends. Everyone that came in contact with him regarded Dr. Krasner as exceptionally sensitive to his patients’ feelings, and far more caring than most doctors allowed themselves to be. Richard had first consulted him for a bleeding and bruising problem that turned out to be an immune system disorder that destroyed the platelets in his blood. After a year of treatment and regular visits, they had gotten into a discussion about foreign cars one day and found that they both had a passion for Italian sports cars, especially Alfa Romeos. It was an unusual interest for two such different people to share, and the friendship had developed from there.
“I just don’t understand it, Dr. Krasner. How could all of this happen to me? First the platelet problem, then the thyroid cancer, and now this. It’s not like I didn’t take good care of myself. I ran and exercised, ate right and kept my weight down. I thought that I was doing everything right, and now my body has failed me again. Even the medications that I’ve had to take gave me problems. The thyroid hormone gave me heart palpitations, the platelet treatments made me sick, and let’s not forget that the IV treatment for the platelet problem nearly killed me. I just don’t get it. How did I get screwed so badly?”
“The fact that you did take such good care of yourself may well be what got you through all of that. You’ve got a strong heart Richard, and a will to survive that matches it, but sometimes medical problems occur for reasons that are way outside of our ability to control them. You know the old saying about being fortunate in having chosen the right parents? Well of course we can’t, but that means we have no control over some of these things that happen to us in life.”
“I know, but my Mom and Dad haven’t had half the problems that I’ve had, and I’m only forty years old!”
“Your mother has her own blood problems as I recall. They’re really not related to anything that you’ve had, but they may indicate a tendency to develop blood disorders. Then throw in lord knows what kind of problems in your Father’s history that we don’t even know about, and that may have made you prone to some of the illnesses that you’ve experienced. We’re still just beginning to understand the entire subject of genetics, and the sort of things can be passed along from one generation to another. It’s still unclear just what role the environment plays in genetic mutations, and exactly how one person’s lifestyle can affect his own health and that of his descendants.”
“I just feel that I have to find some reason why all of this is happening to me. I’ve got to know if I could have done something different to prevent it all.”
“You’re right to want answers, but that’s way beyond anything that I can help you with. My job is to deal with the immediate problem, and we’ve got to start chemotherapy as soon as possible. Let me study the test results further and design a treatment plan. I’ll have the office call you to schedule your first session. We’re going to fight this Richard, and we’re going to fight it together.”
“I know, Dr. Krasner, and I appreciate all that you’ve done for me, but this time it’s really hard to accept.”
“Let me give you a referral to someone that specializes in genetics and the study of inherited traits and diseases. Her name is Beverly Walle. She’s a genetics specialist, and while she won’t be able to do anything to cure you, she may be able to give you some of the answers that you’re looking for. People generally go to someone in her field when they have concerns about diseases in their family history and are considering having children. She compiles a medical history of both of their families and looks for certain markers in their DNA that might indicate a chance of Downs Syndrome or some other type of disorder. Beverly is right on the cutting edge of the research that’s being done in this area, and she may be able to answer some of your questions. I don’t know if that will make any of this easier to bear, but if its answers that you want, Dr. Walle is the best person that I know to help you find them.”
“Thanks Dr. Krasner; I’m sorry if I seem to be taking any of this out on you. I guess I’m just a little bitter and feeling sorry for myself.”
“That’s understandable Richard, and don’t worry about me. We’re going to beat this and make a date to cruise around in our Alfa’s the way we’ve always planned.”
“Hey, I’ve at least had one. You’ve been talking about buying one for most of the years that I’ve known you. It’s time that you did something about it.”
“Okay, that’s a deal. We’ll beat this and celebrate with new cars and a road rally. I’ll see you in a week or so.”
Richard was exhausted from the bad news and trying to put up a “good front” for Dr. Krasner. The truth is that he was ready to quit. It was all just too much for him. He had been a competitive marathon runner; never a medal winner but someone that placed high in his age group, and qualifying for the Boston Marathon last year had been one of the high points in his life. After that he earned two black belts in karate, and was rightly proud of everything he had accomplished in spite of years of medical problems. Now as he walked out of Dr. Krasner’s office he just felt like a broken man. It appeared as though he might not even make it to his mid-forties. After all, how long could you possibly live with your blood turning to a thick sludge and choking your organs? And then there was the bone issue. He’d be prone to, what did Dr. Krasner say, fractures and structural problems? That pretty much meant the end of karate training for him, and how long would it be before the running gave him stress fractures, or even worse?
I’d rather die now than lose everything that’s important to me , he thought, and then he remembered Susan.
Susan Reis and he met at a neighborhood party when they were both in high school. They dated for a while and then separated when Richard went off to serve a two year hitch in the Army. There were some rough periods when he returned, mostly because he had developed some bad habits while partying his way around Europe, but in the end things worked out and they had been together ever since. Somehow they had made it work, in spite of their being so many differences between them. Richard was over six feet tall while Susan was only five foot three. He came from an English/Irish background while Susan was of Austrian descent. Richard was, one might say, a bit fussy and highly organized, compared to Susan who was late for just about everything, somewhat disorganized and let life sort of carry her along. None of their friends thought that they would make it this far, but they had proven them wrong and just celebrated their seventeenth anniversary. Susan loved him deeply and was capable of far more emotion than he was, but he cared for her in his own way as well. He knew that Susan would be devastated if she lost him, so he was determined to put up the best fight that he could against this latest challenge. He put any of the thoughts about taking his own life that had come to him as he left D