“I’m sorry, Mrs. Harmony— the test came back positive. You do remember what we spoke about yesterday, don't you? That this is not a complete surprise? The condition is common among transplant patients.”
“Of course I remember. I was just hoping it wouldn’t happen to him. He’s such a fighter, and he’s been doing so well since he got the new heart. Level Dasher and I were hoping he wouldn’t have to put up with anything else, but after what you told us yesterday, it seems this was inevitable… I’m so sorry, honey.”
She turned to me with tears in her eyes as she said that last sentence. Stupid doctors… I hate seeing Mom cry.
“The sooner we start treatment, the better. The good news is that it is not terminal, and the likelihood of a positive prognosis is high. However, it would be wise to have him admitted here at the hospital. It will make the process much easier, and if done at the proper pace, we might be able to nip this in the bud within the next year or so. I'm not going to lie, Mrs. Harmony. The process won’t exactly be fun for little Crimson—”
Darn it! I hate it when they call me little!
“—but we will try to make his stay as painless as possible. The PonyLife volunteers can bring in some activities for him to do if he likes, and you are welcome to bring things from home to keep him occupied. After the first month or so, fillies and colts tend to get used to it.”
Great. Something else I have to ‘get used to.’ I got used to the medicine. I got used to the overprotective parents. Now I have to get used to staying in the hospital? AGAIN? Well that’s just swell.
Right— I should probably bring you up to speed. I guess I need to introduce myself first. The name’s Crimson Star, Crimson for short. I live in Ponyville, and apparently I’m going to live in Ponyville General for the next year. My mom, Harmony, is a musician. She sings and teaches violin at the Ponyville Arts Center. My dad, Level Dasher, is a video game tester. He’s been doing it my whole life, and has worked for a bunch of different companies. He keeps telling me how much progress gaming has made over the years, and I see what he means when he brings home new games before their release date. Anyway, I’m getting off track here…
I’ve spent most of my life in the hospital, but if I tried to tell you everything I’ve been through over the years it would be insane, so I’ll just give you the short version. It started when I got sick six years ago, when I was only four years old. The doctors found out there was a problem with my heart, so they tried giving me a bunch of medication to fix it. When I was six, they finally realized the meds weren’t working, so they put me on the heart transplant list. I was lucky enough to get a new one only a couple months later. Some kids weren’t as lucky…
For the past four years, I’ve had to come back and forth to Ponyville General for biopsies, blood draws, and even more surgery to make sure everything is still working right. Thinking about it, I can’t believe I’m one of the smarter ponies my age; I’ve spent, like, half as much time at school as my friends, and a ton of time playing video games with my dad. I must get the smarts from him— making a career out of playing video games all day? That’s the smartest thing I’ve ever heard.
So anyway, about a week ago, this huge lump appeared on my neck, and I kinda wigged out; we didn’t know what it was. We thought it might just go away, but yesterday it was still as big as an apple, so my mom decided to bring me here to the hospital and ask about it. Hooray for me, the doctor shoved this big needle into the lump and took some weird-looking stuff out to run tests on. I’ve gotten old enough that the doctors just tell me if what they’re gonna do will hurt, but it still doesn’t make it hurt any less.
After the doctor sent the stuff he took out of my neck off to get tested, he told us about this condition called PTLD. I know the P-T stands for Post-Transplant and the D is Disease—or Disorder, I don’t think it really matters—but I don’t remember what that L stands for. The word was really long.
Whatever the stupid L stands for, apparently it’s some kind of cancer. I don’t remember them saying that cancer was a possibility when I first got my new heart. If they did say anything about it, I definitely didn’t hear it— pretty sure that’s something I would remember if I had.
I seriously wish I didn’t have to deal with this now, not after all the other junk I’ve been through. It’s not like I really have any say in the matter, but still… I know enough about cancer to know that there are a lot of kinds of it, and I don’t want to have any of them. I’ve heard of enough ponies that have died from cancer…
“Sweetie? I hate to say this, but they want to bring you upstairs now. They have a room available, and they don’t want to lose it.”
WHAT? NOW? You have GOT to be kidding me!