The surgery, the chemotherapy, the radiation is all--officially--behind me. And it feels really, really good.
At St. Joseph they give you a pretty certificate that basically says, "You are strong and awesome and DONE!" Everyone hugs over and over. Then we ring the bell and take pictures. Here is mine. The three women in the photo are the staff members who got me through this last hurdle. They are saints. They deserve so much praise, and I spent time last night filling out the "Recognize a special St. Joseph employee" forms on each of them.
The guy in the photo is a character named Ray. I don't even know what his treatment is for, but we've had appointments at the same time, 5 days a week, for over a month now. Ray drove me crazy because, as we sat waiting our turn, he wouldn't STFU or sit still. He was constantly moving, his mouth constantly running, and being first thing in the morning: Lets just say, his wife must be a pretty special woman not to have killed him by now. But in the end, I'm happy to have such a colorful personality as part of my memory of this experience. So when it came time to ring the bell, it was fitting that Ray would be there, insisting on being part of my ceremony.
I went from there to work, and a number of people wondered why I didn't take the day off to celebrate. My answer was; A) Though it was my last, today still started out with a radiation treatment, so why waste a vacation day on that?! True freedom starts tomorrow, and trust me, I am OFF the rest of the week!
And B) I actually LOVE the people I work with and wanted to share my celebration with them. Along with Al and Tommy, these are the people who had to literally live with me through this ordeal, and I wanted to share this great day with them. I am amazingly blessed to have a job that actually got me through cancer treatment. For more than 30 years, my Fireman's Fund family has seen me through weddings, babies, funerals, and now cancer. And even though we are few, we are still a strong family and will stay that way no matter where we go.
So here we go. There have been many chapters in this journey, but this is really only Part I of the bigger novel, and I plan to keep blogging the second half of the story. There will be a Part II that will deal with life after cancer. I have hormone treatment ahead of me and goals to get back the body that was once strong, thin and confident. I'm determined to make this a positive life-changing event that leaves me better than I was before. So stay tuned.
