Chapter 5
The next morning JC called Dr. Reed’s office. The receptionist informed him they had a cancellation for that afternoon. JC agreed to come and hung up. Well, that’s one thing taken care of. Hopefully it’s nothing serious. I don’t need anything else to go wrong. Truthfully, I don’t think anything is going right. Might as well call Mom. He dialed that familiar number.
"Hello?"
"Hey Mom, it's me."
"Hey son. How are you?"
"I'm doing okay." JC lightly coughed again.
“Sweetie, you sound awful.”
“I’m getting it checked out in a bit, Mom. Doctor had a cancellation today.”
Karen breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I just worry about you.”
“You don’t need to. I can do this myself.”
“No matter how old you are, you’re still my son, Josh.”
Josh. Not many called him that name anymore since changing his initials for Disney. “Touché, mother.”
“I love you, son. Let me know what he says.”
“I love you, Mom. I will. Bye.”
He slipped on a black shirt, track jacket and dark rinse jeans and thin framed glasses. He didn't want to mess with contacts today. Then he forced a bowl of cereal in his system. He hadn't felt hungry lately. It wasn't intentional starvation; he simply didn't have the desire to eat. Plus, the coughing pained his throat and made it harder to eat.
JC sat down at the piano in the studio as his phone buzzed. I know who it is and I'm not answering it. He knew Eric was calling to berate him for ditching the party. But JC knew better than to mention it last night; Eric could be aggressive while drunk. I don't even know why we stay in contact anymore. It doesn't benefit either of us. He pounded the keys in frustration. Why am I such a doormat? Why do I let people like him get to me? I wish I had more real friends. He groaned and looked at the clock. 12:45. Doctor's appointment started in 15 minutes and it took almost as long to get to the office. I'll probably be late. Lovely.
After driving a few minutes, he flipped on the radio and Bye Bye Bye came on. He smiled slightly. NSYNC was on top the world at that point. They’d broken away from a tyrannical ex-manager, retained rights to their name and sold 2.4 million albums in a week. The quintet was being pulled in a million different directions. At the time, none of them realized how they’d made history. They didn’t see anything special about themselves; in their minds, they were just five guys who loved to sing and perform. Of course, that increased the appeal.
One of the things he missed the most about that time was the genuine friendship with the other four guys. They enjoyed making music and having fun together. Yet they also could confide in one another if needed. After he and Bobbie broke up in summer 2001, Chris and Joey would make him laugh to cheer him up, Lance would listen and Justin would offer his advice. He and Justin shared some deep conversations while on the Pop Odyssey tour bus. He sighed. 10 years later, the dynamics changed. He and Justin would hang out sometimes when they were in the same place but it wasn’t like the closeness they used to have. It seemed that way with all four of his band mates. They'd grown up and apart from one another. That was then. It was an amazing time but I have to take care of myself now. He parked his car and walked to the office.
Dr. Reed was JC’s general practitioner. They had a cordial relationship. JC hadn’t seen the man much aside from once a year general checkups. He hoped he would be in and out there with some antibiotics and a prescription of rest. He didn’t do much else these days but at least he would have a doctor’s excuse to do it. The nurse took him back right away and asked him what his reason for coming in was. JC summarized the past few months medically as the nurse took notes. Then she informed him the doctor would be in shortly.
Dr. Reed came in a few minutes. He was at oldest 10 years older than JC, in running form (he ran marathons in his spare time) and didn’t look a day older 25. The duo shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
“How can I help you today?” The elder man asked.
“I’ve had terrible coughing spells. It doesn’t feel like your normal cold or flu. It’s coming from somewhere deeper than that.”
“How long have you had these episodes?”
JC thought for a moment. “A month at least, maybe two. In short, too long.”
The doctor chuckled. “No one likes discomfort. Let’s take a look here.” He took out his stethoscope and plugged his ears. “Take a few deep breaths for me.”
He did as instructed as Dr. Reed placed the stethoscope on JC’s left and right side of his chest and upper back.
“You’re breathing harder than usual.” Dr. Reed observed.
JC hadn’t noticed this before. But now that Dr. Reed mentioned it, his breaths were labored at times. It took a second longer than normal to catch his breath.
“Let’s take a look in your throat here.” The doctor walked to the sink to get a Popsicle stick and mini flashlight.
JC didn’t respond. His nerves heightened with every second. Was the heavy breathing a sign of things to come? Don’t’ jump to conclusions just yet, Chasez. He hasn’t seen anything.
“Open up for me”
JC opened his mouth wide as the physician shined his flashlight in the patient’s throat.
Dr. Reed frowned. “You have something in your throat here.”
JC tensed up. He didn’t expect that. What is it? What does it look like? Is it dangerous?
The doctor turned off his flashlight. “That’s worrisome.”
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure. Some kind of mass. We’d have to look at it closer to be certain.”
Mass? That doesn’t sound encouraging. “What do we do?”
“You need an endoscopy to see what it is. The sooner we get that done, the better.”
“Where is it?”
“It’s near your vocal cords. Not on them, thankfully. But it’s still a force to be reckoned with. Your vocal folds are shaped like this.” He made a “V” with his ring and little finger. “That V is surrounded by a ring. The spot is on the ring. I’d imagine it’s been putting pressure on your cords and making you cough more than usual.”
“Do you think it’s cancer?” JC whispered.
“I’m no expert, Josh. It could be nodules, cancer, or just irritation. We can’t make any official diagnosis until after the procedure and have it analyzed by a specialist. Most likely I’ll have to refer you to someone else. I’m not qualified to make that call.”
JC didn’t know how to process this information. The mere thought of cancer scared him beyond belief. That didn’t happen to young and relatively healthy people like him, did it? No, it couldn’t be. He’d taken good care of his voice in the 20 years he’d been a professional singer. He drank but not to alcoholic levels; he didn't smoke and had tried minimal drugs. No, not him. Not now.
Dr. Reed noticed his patient’s worry. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. No matter what happens, I’ll do my best to help you in treatment going forward.”
JC shook the man’s hand. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll schedule you for a scope with Dr. Franklin Friday and we’ll see what we can find out. We’ll be in touch.”
Dr. Franklin was the gastroenterologist in the practice Dr. Reed was in. JC had seen his name before but hadn’t spoken to him. His insides churned; this was turning out much worse than he thought. “Okay. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Story is for entertainment only and I own only original characters.
The plot thickens in this installment. I hope you all like it. I appreciate everyone who's taken time to read it. It means so much to me.
Story Tags: postsync jc cancer tearjerker
