Chapter 3
72 hours passed with Calandra in her wheelchair and she was starting to feel her old self again almost after having not moved her legs at all for the last three days by way of getting round in the wheelchair, once again she regained feeling and started to con herself into believing nothing was wrong and decided after a phone call from an old friend that she was going to go out and have a hit of tennis, she wasn't going to over exert herself just a light hit and she would be back before she knew it, Calandra popped out of her wheelchair and headed off.
Once at the tennis club Calandra saw her friend and after exchanging pleasantries they took to the court, they had a brief warm up before Calandra's friend Arabella sugested a set.
"Yeah not sure i should play a set, be having problems with my back and i don't want to overdo it and you know how competitive i get when i play tennis" said Calandra
"Yeah there is no-one more intense than you that's for sure, you look ok at the moment though so how about we see how we go then if you start feeling sore we can quit?" suggested Arabella
"Ok sounds good. Knowing me though i won't want to once we get into the heat of battle" replied Calandra before they took up their positions to start the set. Feeling ok Calandra won the first three games against Arabella and started to trash talk her like she usually did, all of a sudden though Arabella fought back and got to 3-3 with Calandra now feeling pain in her back once again, she wasn't going to stop though, she had a perfect 8-0 record against her friend and she was going to do whatever it took to keep it intact, as the set went on Arabella dominated even more and soon found herself at 5-3,40-love and set point. Arabella looked over at Calandra and she was looking decidedly wobbly, just as she served Calandra collapsed to the ground.
"Oh my god Calandra what's wrong" screamed a frightened Arabella
"It's my legs, i can't move them, they have gone numb and i feel really dizzy. Where are you Arabella?" said Calandra now almost out of it with her vision going blurry along with her strickened legs. Arabella immediately rang an ambulance and Calandra was taken to hospital. Once there her doctor told the emergency staff there that they were still waiting on some tests to determine her condition and he had told her to have 7 days bed rest and if need be get around in a wheelchair which was advice she had clearly ignored. Calandra was also dehydrated so she was hooked up to a drip and soon became lucid and aware of her surroundings again. At the moment they still had no idea what was wrong but they would know more in 48 hours.
2 days passed with Calandra under strict instructions not to move from her hospital bed, not that she could really could now with the feeling in her legs not coming back this time which worried her a great deal, the test results were rushed back a little earlier than expected and the doctor came in to tell her the findings.
"So what's the story doc"? asked Calandra hoping it was good news.
"Well after all the tests and the mri we have found that you have a tumour in your spine and one in your brain" said the doctor. Calandra just looked at him terrified upon hearing this news. "The tumour in your spine looks to be a reasonable size and that's the reason why whenever you walked around or did physical activity the tumour caused your spine to swell which in turn put pressure on your spinal cord and surrounding areas causing a blockage to the blood supply in your lower legs causing them to go numb and paralysis of your lower legs. When you rested for a significant period of time the swelling would go down and that's why you were then able to move again until it inevitably swelled again due to your movement" explained the doctor.
"Is there anything you can do?? said a frightened Calandra
"Well yes, you look to have aggravated the tumour in your spine now to such a degree that we will have to put you under the knife to try and remove it but i must warn you, the surgery contains a 10% percent chance of permanent paralysis" replied the doctor.
"Oh god" replied Calandra.
"I have more news, the tumour in your brain can be treated with medication as it hasn't got too severe yet but we will have to wait to administer it after the surgery though so it doesn't interrupt with the operation on your spine" said the doctor. Calandra just layed there distraught with the thought of being in a wheelchair almost too much for her to handle. The doctor left the room and almost on cue Brian walked in to check up on the status of his admiration.
"So what's the story?" asked Brian
"I'm pretty much screwed" cried Calandra. She explained it all to Brian who replied "10% chance of paralysis? Well that means there is a 90% chance you will be ok babe. Got to focus on the positives"
"Easy to say when it's me sitting here with the tumours in me not you" said Calandra angrily
"Yeah i know but I'm here for you" replied Brian
"I just want my dad, i tried to call him and his phone is off" sobbed Calandra as she put her hands into her face in a distraught manner. Brian gave her a hug and then when she felt a bit sleepy laid her down to rest before she drifted off to the land of nod. The next week would be a big one for Calandra and no-one knew how it would all pan out..
Chapter 4
Calandra stayed in the hospital for the next three days before a time became available for her to move into surgery and have her operation, she was quite concerned but knew the odds were in her favour. She was put into a special hospital gown and wheeled away leaving her friends and a worried Brian behind with her father still unable to be contacted. As she got closer to the room where the surgery would take place Calandra could feel her heart beating a million miles an hour, up to this point life had been a dream pretty much, no health concerns, her choice of any man she wanted, dad always there to help her out with money if need be and with all the independence in the world which she cherished so much. She arrived at the surgery room and was lifted onto the table, she was put under an anaesthetic and was told to count to 10 "10,9,8...." said Calandra before falling asleep. The surgery was completed and Calandra was taken back to her room.
After returning to her room Calandra slowly started to come too, she was a bit groggy still but soon became aware of her surroundings. Once fully awake and aware of what was happening Calandra noticed she still had no feeling in her legs.
"With this kind of surgery at least half of the patients take at least 24 hours to regain sensation in their lower body so need to be alarmed just yet, just give it time" said the doctor. Calandra sat there hoping the doctor was right, she was quickly joined by her friend Arabella and Brian who had waited patiently in the cafeteria upon hearing news.
"Hey girl how was it?" asked Arabella
"Was ok i guess, I'm still here. Still don't have any feeling but doc said it should come with time hopefully" replied Calandra
"It better come back, we have to finish off that set, i was so close to beating you for the first time, knowing you Calandra you collapsed on purpose so i wouldn't beat you!" joked Arabella
"Oh yeah i collapsed and purposely lost feeling in my legs so i wouldn't get beaten in tennis by you, don't talk crap Arabella" scowled Calandra.
"Was just joking,sorry for trying to lighten the mood" said Arabella on the defensive now
"Yeah well it's not the time nor the place. I'd appreciate it if you left now arabella" replied Calandra.
"Gladly" said Arabella who stormed off.
"You want to crack inappropriate jokes too?" barked Calandra at Brian who was just looking at her not really knowing what to say as he knew it would probably get twisted and jumped all over by Calandra.
"No all good" replied Brian hoping even that remark didn't cause an outburst.
"If you wouldn't mind I'd like to be alone now thanks" said Calandra. Brian left the room and Calandra was left to sit alone just hoping and praying the feeling would come back in her legs but this night it wouldn't.
The next morning Calandra woke up and she checked her legs to see if any feeling was there but alas no there wasn't, the doctor came in to perform a pin prick test on her legs so he pulled down the sheet covering Calandra without asking which raised her ire.
"Not too fast thank you, i don't want everyone walking past the room to see my undies, oh and you could have asked by the way!!" yelled Calandra.
"Sorry i'm just a little busy we must get this done" said the doctor as he pushed the pin into Calandra's bare right foot. "Can you feel that?" asked the doctor.
"No but i hope that pin has been sterilised otherwise you will be in trouble mister" replied Calandra. As well as being selfish she wasn't someone who had a lot of trust in people either. The doctor put the pin and pressed it into the sole of her left foot and once again Calandra had no feeling so he moved up her leg to her upper thigh.
"Whoa getting a bit friendly there aren't you doc"? said Calandra thinking he was trying to get a bit fresh with her
"I must test upper and lower leg to see if you have feeling" replied the doctor. Calandra couldn't feel anything and now started to forget about the pin and where it was going and worry about the fact she couldn't feel it.
"I should have feeling by now shouldn't i? asked Calandra in a demanding tone.
"Ideally yes, i don't want to alarm you too much but this lack of feeling has become quite a concern now" said the doctor.
"You better not have stuffed up this operation. I will sue you for millions" barked Calandra in a vicious tone. She was now coming round to the fact this could be her new reality and that didn't sit well with her,not at all. The doctor had heard all of this before so he thought it best to leave and not buy into what would likely develop into a slanging match with his patient. As he left Calandra gave him one last serve saying "I better get feeling back or I'm coming for you!".
Another 24 hours passed and Calandra's movement below waist level didn't improve, she sat in her bed waiting for the doctor to come in so she could give him another serve, he was going to cop it with both barrels and even the doctor knew this. After waiting for a few hours the doctor came in and once again performed his pin prick tests and once again Calandra felt nothing.
"You hopeless bastard" screamed Calandra. All you had to do was do the operation right and i would be fine but no you had to stuff it up you inept clown" added a seething Calandra.
"I did the operation correctly, it all seemed to go perfect but sometimes these things can't be explained. The spinal cord is a very delicate thing and I did warn you there was a 10% chance of this happening remember" said the doctor trying to placate Calandra at least a little.
"Well when are you going to have answers for me"? barked Calandra wanting an end to all of this.
"Just have to wait and see" replied the doctor which didn't go down well with Calandra who started to curse him even more vehemently now so he headed off to leave her be.
A week passed and Calandra was finally able to get in touch with her father Tom who finally turned up and now stood at the foot of her bed.
"Oh my god sweetie i had no idea, i lost my phone while in the bahamas and i lost all my numbers, I was only going for two weeks so i thought it wouldn't be a big deal but if i knew about this i would have come back straight away. Oh my little girl how are you coping with with all of this?" said a very worried Tom.
"Yeah well i could have used your support a bit earlier thanks dad but your here now i suppose. It's not looking good, they think it could be permanent" replied Calandra
"What? So they reckon you could be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life"? said Tom stunned by the prospect.
"Yep. I can't be in a wheelchair dad i just can't" cried Calandra as the thought of it all got to her. Her dad Tom gave her a hug and they just sat there arms around each other on the bed.
Over the course of the next fortnight more tests were run and nothing could really be found apart from the fact that the spine seemed to have been bruised from the operation, normally that would heal and come good within days but unfortunately for Calandra not in her case. On later inspection of Calandra and after some range of movement exercises the doctors and therapists were a bit confused on what to call her but they settled on classifying her as a t4 incomplete for the time being with hopes it would improve given more time....
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