I Rang the Bell!

Today was my final chemo infusion! I still have, I dunno, maybe a year left on my journey to getting fully finished and back to normal life, but chemo is the worst of the process, I think.

A big celebration at infusion centers is to ring a bell, surrounded by nurses and staff cheering for you. It was surreal and magical and a great way to close this chapter.

Beside the Bell is this poem, which I read before ringing.

Ring this bell

Three times well

Its toll to clearly say,

My treatment's done

This course is run

And I am on my way!

I got a little teary halfway through. Dad got a lot teary, but I'm so glad he was here with me!

Here are a few pictures of the day:

 Six treatments, in the books!

Getting ready to ring.

I also got a certificate that says I completed my chemo treatment.

Hugs from Dad, who has always been my biggest cheerleader.

I know I already said so on Facebook, but I couldn't have gotten here without my friends and family giving me SO much help and kindness and support!

A merry heart...

A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.

That is one of the earliest memory verses I can recall memorizing. There was a song we sang... A merry hea-a-art, does good like a meeee-dicine, and like a meeee-dicine, is a merry heart! 

Anyway. I'm feeling great this week, so my heart is pretty merry. It's funny how I can let my physical feelings dictate my emotional state, when really, I need to make it the other way around. But that's a post for another day.

Today, I wanted to brag - I got the results from last week's echo, and it's filled with a bunch of medical hubbub, but one word is repeated over and over with respect to each thingamajig they examined on my heart: NORMAL. I'm no medical expert, but I know that normal heart function is what we are going for, so, HOORAY!

I'm getting ready for my last chemo treatment Monday, and honestly, I'm dreading it - round 5 was the worst as far as how bad I felt and how long I felt bad, so I'm not ready to sink down to that low again... But, it's the last one, so, HOORAY again!! I think you can do just about anything when you know there's an end to it.

And to celebrate, we are going on a little vacation. Some dear friends have family connections to a pair of cabins on a small private lake near Broken Bow, OK. They've invited us and another couple, along with all the kiddos, for a long weekend at the end of this month, and we are all super excited. It's been quite a while since we've all gotten together, and it'll be great to just unplug and relax for the weekend with good friends!