About a month after leaving the hospital, I returned for a follow-up examination.
I had a chest X-ray, blood tests, and received an explanation about the tumor that had been removed during surgery.
The results were reassuring.
There had been no spread.
The tumor was considered to be of low malignancy.
The final diagnosis was stage two.
The night before the operation, I had been told that stage four was a strong possibility.
Because of that, the results almost felt anticlimactic.
Part of me thought it would have been nice to know that from the beginning.
But I also understand why they could not.
A hospital has a responsibility to explain the worst-case scenario as well.
In the end, the outcome was even better than the best I had allowed myself to hope for.