Emily was my best friend. She still will be.
When we were 13, Emily found out she had a Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain cancer. The doctors said it was too late to do anything. They said it was because her tumor was too big or something like that. Well, she had a little over a year. I was scared.
Five weeks before we found out she had brain cancer she got really sick. She first started saying ‘What?’ a lot, which I soon found out was loss of hearing. Then Emily’s speech became very bad. Emily kept seeing doctors who kept giving her physical therapy and medicine, until she had a seizure. The ER doctors did an MRI. That's when the doctors saw it.
Emily was really beautiful. She had long, silky, brown hair and emerald green eyes. She was skinny and lean. We did ballet together every Wednesday and Friday. She was definitely more graceful then I was.
Anyway, we found out about her GBM and her ‘a little over a year thing’. Emily's parents made the doctors try radiation therapy. Dr. Freestone, Emily’s doctor, knew it was too late but he tried. It was horrible to see her go through it. She lost her hair and her happiness. I visited her everyday, right after school till 7 PM. For five weeks I watched her suffer, knowing that I couldn’t do anything. At least I could shave my head too.
On Wednesday, February 17th I was sitting next to her telling her about Skittles, my dog, and how he by accident changed the channel on TV. She interrupted me and said,
“Mandy? I want it stopped.”
“Okay Emily. I’ll tell the doctors.”
I was standing up when Emily touched my hand and said,
“Mandy, thanks. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I paused for a little, and then ran to the front desk and asked where Dr. Freestone was.
“He’s in the restroom. I’ll page him if you want.” Replied a nice, sweet, high-pony-tailed nurse.
“That would be great. Thanks.” I said.
I waited on a bench until he came back.
“Dr. Freestone? Emily’s done with the radiation treatment.” I told him as soon as he came around the corner.
“Mandy, we need her parents’ approval.” He unfortunately said.
“They’re in the cafeteria. Let’s go talk to them.” I quickly answered.
“Alright Mandy, alright.”
I pulled him through the halls and into the elevator, down to 3rd floor, and across the hall. “There they are,” I pointed, “Hi Mr. and Mrs. Greg. Emi-”
“Is Emily alright?” Mrs. Greg asked, as her hands grew white around her strawberry mouse in cup.
Mrs. Greg looked old and tired today. Mr. Greg seemed much more like Emily’s grandfather then father. I wished they didn’t look like that; Emily wouldn’t want them too.
“No, no Mrs. Greg. She’s fine. Mandy had just told me that Emily wanted the radiation stopped. We need your permission.” Said Dr. Freestone kindly.
The Greg's looked at each other in thought and sadness.
“Excuse me but in my opinion you should stop. I believe radiation won’t help, only hurt. We’re not giving up hope though.” Dr. Freestone suggested.
They looked at each other and they just knew.
“Okay I’ll stop the treatment immediately.” Dr. Freestone stated
A week after the treatment was stopped Emily felt much better and was released from the hospital. In the back of our minds we still knew she had only a year or so left and that at any given time she would have to go back. Emily and her parents traveled the world. I got postcards from Tokyo, Egypt, England, Spain and so on. They traveled for three months until she got sick again.
While Emily was away I researched her condition and new treatments. All Google, and Bing, came up with is charities. I used the phone book too. Nothing, na-da, zip. Then while I was watching Animal Planet, it hit me. I'm going to make a website about Emily and asking for ideas from new cures.
One and a half weeks later I had my site up and running. It had a lilac background, Emily's favorite color, and an ice cream cone border, Emily's favorite food. I had a blog, contact me, discussions, pictures of Emily, and everything else. I couldn’t wait!
Four days past and nothing new on my website. Two weeks passed, nothing. I got a phone call from Emily's parents at 7:32 nineteen days after my website was made.
“Mandy. Hi. Emily's sick again. We're going home. Emily would love if you were with her.”
“Alright, I'll see you soon.”
“Thanks you're a great friend.”
“Thanks. Bye.”
I got my mom to drive me to the hospital. I arrived as an ambulance pulled up. Emily came out on a stretcher, dripping with sweat. Mrs. Greg came out with her.
“Oh Mandy I'm glad your here.” Mrs. Greg said as she gave me a hug.
“Where is Mr. G?” I asked
“Oh he's in the front seat.” she said this as Mr. G walked out of the ambulance.
We all waited hours it seemed like, for the doctor came out with news from Emily.
This reminded me of a time when we were in Kindergarten. It was a crisp autumn day. We went out to wait for the bus. We waited and waited and waited for the bus to come. It never did. We waited for hours. Our parents had gone to work. We had decided to play while we waited, in my front yard. We played princess and house until we got hungry. Our houses were locked so we ate flowers. I’ll never forget the look on my mom's face when she came to pick us up.
“Mr. and Mrs. Greg? We’re ready for you.” said Dr. Freestone.
We were led to an office with pictures of probably Dr. Freestone’s family. There were pictures of dogs, a woman, kids, and a house. There were also little kids paintings, like fish, dogs, and flowers.
“Now Mr. and Mrs. Greg, Mandy.” Dr. Freestone began as we sat down. “Emily had another seizure. Her condition took a downfall. She is now relying on life support in a coma.”
“Oh dear. What can you do, doctor?” asked Mrs. Greg, as she turned pale.
“Yes. We’ll do everything we can. We’ll keep her on life support and we will do as much as we can but…”
“Alright, alright. Thank you. Can we see her?” quiet Mr. Greg asked.
“Of course. She’s in room 197.”
The Greg’s walked towards the door and Mr. Greg turned around and asked, “Are you coming Mandy?”
“I’ll be right there.”
I waited till they turned the corner till I turned to Dr. Freestone.
“How much time does she really have?” I asked not wanting to say it.
“Mandy. Please sit.”
I sat.
“Mandy, Emily doesn’t have much time.”
“How much?”
“A few days, maybe a week?”
I sat there and I cried. I sat there and cried. I sat there and I cried. I cried. I cried. I cried for a long time. I’ve been crying inside, bleeding in my heart for these horrifying months.
“If we take her off life support now will it put her in pain?” I asked after my crying died down.
“She’ll drift away peacefully but if we keep her on, it will be sort of painful because her body is shutting down.”
“I think you need to tell this to the Gregs.”
“You’re right Mandy.”
I sat next to Emily while Dr. Freestone brought Emily’s parents to his office.
“Emily?” I talked to her as she lay there as if she were sleeping. “I don’t know if you can hear me. I bet you can. Well, I’m sorry this happened to you and that I can’t do anything. I think we may cut your life support but I don’t know. I just don’t know what to do. I feel helpless. I miss you so much. I love you.” I cried.
I watched as Emily lay there. Emily’s parents and Dr. Freestone walked through the door and stood waiting for me to stand up. They waited till I was ready. I knew it was time. Mr. Greg stepped in my place when I moved back. He kissed her on the forehead and mumbled something that I couldn’t make out. Mrs. Greg stepped forward when Mr. Greg looked up and took a breath. Mrs. Greg held Emily’s hand, smiled at her, kissed her, and sang,
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” She cried and stood back.
And that was that. Emily was gone. As soon as Dr. Freestone took away life support she was gone. My best friend in the whole entire world was gone. Mr. Greg held on to Mrs. Greg tightly. Mrs. Greg wrapped her arm around me and we all cried. Dr. Freestone left us alone with Emily.
We left after a long time. The Greg’s dropped me off. I went to my room and cried. My mom tried to comfort me but nothing could. I had just lost my best friend. I didn’t do anything for weeks on end. Though after a few weeks I remembered my website. I decided to shut it down. I thought nobody would ever do anything with it. I took one last look at it. I checked the photos and the blog, and then the discussions. There were 283 new posts. There were comments like, ‘I’m so sorry.’ ‘I’ll donate money!’ ‘What’s her condition?’ I was so happy. I responded to all the posts. I said thanks and Emily’s not here now but I’ll keep doing charities. I became so happy. I knew that Emily is like the moon. Even though you can't see her you know she’s there.
The funeral was beautiful. It was a cloudless spring day. It was held outside. I had been asked to say something. It took me a while to find away to say what I wanted to say.
“Hello. My name is Mandy Birch and I was and will forever always be Emily’s best friend. I loved her so much and I’m sure you did too. She was graceful, loving, and kind. She was a great friend. But she was more then that. She was a granddaughter, a cousin, a niece, and most of all a daughter. She was the best there is. She was great inside and out. I know I am forgetting too many things about her to say that’s all. So I am going to say, Emily you will always stay in our hearts, forever. Thank you.”
