By the morning your soft skin had spread a couple more inches. You left armpit and shoulder to the base of your neck were now changed. There was no one in the kitchen but there was evidence that both your mother and sister had already had breakfast. It was Saturday and you didn’t have to work. You took you time over breakfast then headed down to the lab. Maybe your sister had analysed the data by now.
It was your mother who informed you of the findings from your blood analysis.
“It’s not good news Dan. Your red blood cells, platelets and granulocytes were about 10% XX in the samples we took last night. More worrying were the lymphocytes. Close to 50% of lymphocytes in the sample had two X chromosomes. I think I need to take another sample”
It was actually Stephanie who took the blood sample. She also had you strip down to your underwear. She took skin samples from different parts of your body including inside your mouth then took photos all over your body.
She pointed to your left shin and asked: “Has that always been there?”
You had to look carefully to see what she meant. It was a small patch of soft skin, looking eerily similar to how the patch on your arm had started.
………
For the rest of the morning you tried to keep yourself occupied with your chores. With Steph and your mother working in the lab you cleaned up the kitchen, put your own washing in the machine. Then you mowed the lawns but had to admit you were feeling pretty tired by the time you finished. It was close to lunch time so you stuck your head into the lab at lunchtime to ask if they wanted you to make something for lunch, figuring you wanted them to devote time to researching what was happening to your body rather than performing mundane chores.
“Actually I think we both need a break” suggested your mother. Steph nodded. “We’ll come up in a few minutes”
Over lunch your sister let on “The initial results from the blood tests we took this morning are showing something is happening in your body. For a start your white blood cell count is at enormous levels. I would normally only expect to see such levels in someone with a serious infection. But you seem healthy. Have you been feeling off in any way?”
“No I feel fine, well maybe a little tired”
“We have only been looking at your lymphocytes so far. Your percentage with two XX chromosomes seems to be close to 90%. XX seems to be winning the battle over XY”
That worried you “What actually do lymphocytes do?”
“They are a type of white blood cell. Have you heard of T cells and B cells?”
“Er. No”
“These are two types of lymphocytes but It’s hard for us to tell them apart. B lymphocytes produce antbodies to fight infections. They identify foreign bodies in you such as cancerous or virus infected cells. Essentially flagging them so that T lymphocytes can destroy them”
“So are you saying this is what is happening inside me at the moment?”
“We think so. It might explain why your skin is cleaning up. Any cell with a small mutation is being destroyed. Hence your sunspots are disappearing”
“Well that’s a good thing isn’t it?”
“Yes, it could be a good thing. Potentially a cure for cancer. If the effect was confined to where we rubbed the cream we’d be in line for a Nobel prize. But for you the effect is spreading throughout your body and we don’t know why”
Maybe it was a psychological effect of some kind. Your sister had mentioned you should feel tired. And now you were. You picked up your novel and lay on your bed.