On Sunday night, Melanie had trouble sleeping because of my blood pressure and she had nightmares about it. We made an appointment to talk to the nurse before my radiation appointment at the hospital, but we ran into my doctor in the hallway. He is awesome, and I am not sure if I get preferential treatment because I know him, but he is awesome regardless. He reassured Melanie that we are doing all that we can at the moment and that things will most likely get better if I could get through the treatment on Tuesday.
Yesterday was my last day of treatment and it was an interesting experience. Things went rather smoothly. I started off with blood work and I had a student draw blood and she was excellent. It was one of the least painful experiences that I have had. We were then early for my appointment and we had the chemotherapy nurse come and change the IV line. This nurse did it first try without any pain at all. Two needle procedures that went really well. It was a great start to the morning.
1.) Over the weekend I received a package from a work colleague with treats and a pair of cancer socks. I wore the socks to my appointment today and had some photos taken. I have received numerous gifts, well wishes visits from family and friends all over the place. The sheer amount of support is outstanding. Melanie is a believer in karma. When we went to park today, someone came up to us and gave us his parking ticket that he has paid well over time for. Last week there was an older lady that was trying to figure out how to pay and she was struggling so I walked her through it and paid for a full day since she was not sure how long she was going to be there for. Her husband normally deals with it and drops her off and picks her up afterward. I appreciate the generosity that I have received from both family, friends and strangers.
2.) It always amuses me when people remember me for random antics when I interact with people. The nurses said that they will miss my visits as I brought fun and excitement to my visits. I tried to be positive and treat all staff with respect and make it an enjoyable experience with them. When I started this round of treatment I spoke with a nurse and she remembered me from hearing my voice in the hallway. She said I had an impact on her because I was so positive and made the intake session more fun than it should have been. She told me that she was laughing and enjoying the experience and she wanted to introduce herself in person. This cancer journey was not easy and it has not been fun, but I am glad that I had such a wonderful kind an empathetic team to go through it with.
Melanie was permitted to take some photos of me in the radiation room to capture the socks that my colleague bought me. Everyone told me that I had to ring the bell, so I did. Initially I did it quietly and was told to do it much louder and had my photo taken with my mask off.