The next morning the phone rang. “Luisa, can you get that? I’m running late.” The night before we held each other without words. Once again, it was a sleepless night for me. Luisa didn’t sleep well, either.
I could only hear part of the conversation. But I waited until she hangs up before I asked, “Who was that?”
“It was JoAnn. I have a follow-up visit tomorrow with Iglesias. Can you be there?”
“Yes, I want to be there.”
She felt relieved. More than ever she needed me. Regardless of the news, she needed my support. “Amor, you need to hurry. You’re going to be late for court.”
“I know. I’ll call John to brief the client and the judge won’t get too mad at me if I’m a few minutes late.”
She smiled. “You and your family are really something.”
I leaned over to kiss Luisa. It was a deep kiss filled with unspoken emotions. It was like we were on borrowed time.
The day went on and Luisa tried to keep her mind in prayer, but the enemy was messing with her concentration. I called after court to see how she was doing. This was nothing new, though. We checked with each other throughout the day frequently without interfering with work. As we ended the conversation, we gave each other Besos (kisses). She seemed to enjoy the Spanish in me and had grown accustomed to my idioms.
Her real name was Lisa Marie. But I had started calling her Luisa before we got married. My paternal grandmother was Luisa; she was very important to me. Luisa never got to meet her and that saddened me. But Luisa had the same love in her heart. So it stuck and then her coworkers even started calling her Luisa. She went by Luisa full time now.
The rest of the day and night passed pretty much the same as the previous few days. The next morning, we awoke to know that soon our lives would change with the looming appointment. I went to work as usual. I left work early and arrived at the house to pick up Luisa at 1:30 p.m. We didn’t have an appointment until 2:30, but I was ready to get there and get it over with. Luisa just wanted to look the devil in the eye and kick him back to Hell. We seemed to be in two different places; our souls were so disconnected that Luisa had to keep reeling me in. She needed me to help her face this demon; she didn’t want to face it alone.
“Mi, Amor, please just be here now with me. Don’t think about anything else. Just be here.” She was almost pleading.
“I’ll try.” I was hurting and torn apart.
“I need you in my heart. Just touch me here.” She pointed to her heart. “Don’t be the lawyer; be my soul.” She had tears in her eyes now.
I was overwhelmed and sorry for what distance I created. “I’m sorry, Luisa. I know you need me now.”
We arrived at the clinic and parked in the parking garage. I opened her door and looked at her. Her face said it without words. “Don’t think about yourself. I need you.”
Again, I felt her heart pulling at mine. “I’m so sorry, Luisa.”
“It’s okay. I just need you, here, now.”
“Okay, my love.” I gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
We walked out of the garage and across the street. I was holding her hand, trying to communicate the love and support with a simple touch. We went up the elevator to the office. It was quiet inside.
JoAnn was at the front desk, waiting. “Would either of you like something to drink?”
“I’ll have some water please,” I replied. Luisa asked for tea.
JoAnn looked at us. “Water is easy. Tea…” She tapped her fingers on the desk, lost in thought. “Ah, I have some green tea. I will go get it for you.”
As she walked away, Iglesias came down the hall. “Hermano, Luisa, you are early.”
“Yes, we didn’t want to prolong the inevitable.”
My brother looked over at me with a scoldingly. “Don’t be so pessimistic. Medicine can only go far, then there’s God.”
“You’ve been watching The Notebook.”
“I have, but that statement is true.”
JoAnn came back with a bottle of water for me and a cup of hot tea for Luisa. “Mr. Jose, you better mind yourself. Although he is your brother, here, he is my boss. Be kind to him.”
Iglesias looked over to her. “La Guardante (The guard).”
“You should have married JoAnn…” I trailed off as Luisa cut me off.
“All right, you two, let’s get to the reason we are here.”
“Yes,” I said, like a child just called down for misbehaving.
“I’m sorry,” Iglesias said with the same tone.
“No mind,” Luisa replied, “all is forgiven.”
We followed JoAnn and Iglesias down the hall to the exam room.
“Please bring in the reports, JoAnn,” Iglesias said.
JoAnn left the room and returned just a few minutes later.
Iglesias got right to the scans and said, “Luisa, you have some nodules in both breasts. We will have to do a biopsy to see if they’re malignant or not. The brain scan shows some shadows on the right lobe. Pelvic bone also has some areas of concern.”
I stopped him at that point. “Quit sugarcoating it. Just tell us the truth.”
Luisa turned to me with a chastising look. “Please forgive my husband. Go on.”
Iglesias looked from me to Luisa. “I have already consulted the radiologist and oncologist. It looked like breast cancer with metastasis to the brain and pelvic bone.”
Luisa immediately asked, “What are my choices and prognosis?”
“Looking at the scans, in this stage, about fifty-fifty. The conventional therapies will probably make things difficult to deal with. So I think we need to consider other avenues of therapy.”
She looked over to me. “What do you think, Jose?”
“Whatever you decide, I’ll be right next to you.”
Luisa looked back to Iglesias. “No chemo or radiation. I’ve seen what it does to others. And I don’t want what time I have left with sickness, pain, other side effects. That’s not a good quality of life.”
“So what would you like for me to do?”
“Pray! God is the best medicine.” Luisa reached and took hold of my hand.
“Okay, and therapy?”
“I remember Susanne Sommers being diagnosed. She is a breast cancer survivor. I’d like to see what therapies she did.”
“She did Chinese medicine. Herbal oncology. There’s also an Israeli cancer vaccine in clinical trials.”
“I’m not going to poison my body with chemo and radiation. Period!”
“Okay.” Iglesias turned to me. “Jose, what are your thoughts?”
“Prayer and whatever she needs to get well. The Almighty has her in His hands.”
“Yes, He does. Well, let me know if I can help you to find these other therapies.”
Luisa looked over to him. “Yes, thank you, Iglesia.”
He looked at his watch. Realizing the time, he called for JoAnn. “Call the second year resident and tell him ten minutes or he’s toast!”
We could hear her pick up the phone. Without hesitation or greetings, she relayed the message. “If you want your job, get over to Dr. I.’s office now. You have ten minutes or you better start looking for another job.”
Luisa was puzzled at how firm they were with the residents. “Why are you so hard on them?”
“Because they need to see the importance of human life, not themselves.”
We heard the office door open and voices drifted down the hall. The resident sounded out of breath. “Hello, JoAnn. I ran over as fast as I could. Is he in a good mood?”
“It’s Ms. JoAnn to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Yes, he’s in a good mood. His brother’s wife is the patient. Pay close attention to what he asks you!” she warned him before he came into the room.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You can go on in now.”
As he walked into the room, he looked over to my brother. “Dr. Iglesias, you asked for me?”
“Yes, Mark. Please meet my brother Attorney Jose and his lovely wife Luisa.”
“Nice to meet you both.” He politely shook our hands.
Iglesias addressed the resident with a very serious voice. “Now, Mark, I want you to drop whatever you’re doing; turn your patients over to the third-year resident. If he frowns at this, tell him to come frown in front of me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir!” He had a notepad in his hand and was writing as quickly as my brother spoke.
“Next, I want you to call NIH in Bethesda, Maryland; Beijing, China; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Professor Zimmerman in Munich, Germany. Find out what nontoxic therapies are available for breast cancer with Mets to the bone and brain.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, I almost forgot! There is a doctor in the Canary Islands of Spain. He did some infusion of amino acids for brain tumors. I need all of this information in two days. JoAnn will give you some of my contacts in those countries. Tell them you’re a resident with Dr. Iglesias Sanes. That will get you through the front door. Two days! I don’t care if you miss sleep. Remember the time zones are different. Two days for a full report!”
The resident Mark closed his notepad and put it in his pocket. “Yes, sir.” He then left the room to finish getting information from JoAnn.
“Don’t mess this up. Do well and Dr. I. will love you. Mess up…God help you is all I can say,” JoAnn told him as she handed him the list of contacts.
“Yes, ma’am.” He took the list and left to get to work.
Iglesias looked back at us. “Luisa, what I can recommend for a start to eat organic, drink alkaline water to keep you pH level alkaline. Cancer hates alkaline. Also, pray, rest. I’ll get you an appointment with Dr. Zhang, a good friend of mine that practices herbal oncology here in Charleston. As a matter of fact, I’ll call him now!” He reached for the phone and dialed the number for Dr. Zhang, who answered very quickly.
“Nihao, Dr. Zhang.”
“Ah, Iglesias. How are you?”
“I’m good. But I need a favor.”
“Yes, what can I do for you?”
“My sister-in-law has breast cancer with Mets to the brain and bone. I need you to see her for a consult. She may be interested in herbal therapy.”
“Sure. I can see her tomorrow. Is she available?”
Iglesias relayed the message; we both nodded in agreement. “Yes, she can be there. Thank you for working her in so quickly.”
“I am indebted to you for saving my daughter’s life.”
“No, Zhang, there is no debt. It was my honor to serve your family.” They finished the conversation with a few more words. Then he turned back to us. “JoAnn will get you the office address and time to see him. Please go see him; he is good at what he does.”
Luisa was overcome with emotions. I could see it in her expressions. “Thank you, Iglesia.”
“Gracias, Hermano,” I said.
Iglesias hugged me and whispered in my ear, “Por el Amor a Dios y tu Mujer! (For the love of God and your wife).”
“Si,” I replied.
“Okay, you two, check out with JoAnn on the way out. I’ve got work to do!”
We laughed, but it’s not full of the normal carefree sounds. It’s more forced this time; we saw the look on Iglesias’s face during the office visit.
I gave Iglesias a kiss on the cheek and then he turned and gave Luisa a gentle hug. As he pulled away, I heard him whisper to her, “Te Quiero.”
She whispered back, “I love you, too.”
The drive home was less tense than the drive to the office. Luisa started the conversation as we are driving. “I’m optimistic.”
“Yes. Me, too.”
“I’m going to call Bernice. I want to check on the status of the adoption. Do you mind?”
“No, Mi Amor. Please call her.”
You could feel the hope coming alive in us again. The air was full of it! Luisa would be a mother, and I would be a father! God blessed us! His light was shining on us!
Luisa picked up her cell phone and called Bernice.
“Luisa!” Bernice said. “Emilio is doing so much better! Tell Jose thank you for referring him to that counselor. He was also a vet so it is free of charge. Oh, and the best part! His practice is faith-based!”
“I’m so happy for you, B.” Luisa was genuinely happy, but there was still some reservation in her voice. I wasn’t the only one who picked up on it.
“Okay! What’s wrong? You know you can’t hide anything from me!”
“We just left Iglesias’s office about the results. Remember I told you that the headaches were getting worse and he ran some tests? The results were not good according to medical wisdom. But God’s wisdom is the ultimate wisdom.”
“Yes, my sister. God is the All-Knowing. Is there anything I can do?”
Luisa thought for just a short second. “Pray about this. But also, we would like for you to proceed with the adoption. I want to be a mother before anything drastic happens. And don’t worry about Jose. He will be a great dad! And you are going to be a wonderful aunt! So I have my I’s dotted and T’s crossed. Jose’s family will be so happy, too. They have always wanted for us to have a boy!”
“Yes, my dear. I will work on this as quickly as possible!”
“Oh, by the way, we would love to have you and Emilio over for dinner soon. Let us know when would be convenient.”
“Soon, Luisa, soon.” The conversation went on for a few more minutes about the dinner plans. Then Luisa got serious again.
“I would like to see a good women’s therapist. Do you know of someone?”
“Yes,” Bernice confirmed. “I have spoken with one several time. She a little like me. You will like her. She’s also a woman of faith, a Messianic black woman.”
“Are you serious, Bernice?”
“Yes, you will love God in her!”
Luisa seemed to nod in agreement as if Bernice could see her. Then she said, “Yes, Bernice. I believe I will. Well, I need to run. We are almost home. I’m so happy that Emilio is doing better, and even happier that you have him back!”
“Yes, Luisa. God is good!” They hang up after saying good-bye.