May 4, 2011

I'm Done!

Ding!  It's official.  I have completed radiation which means I'm done, it's over, kaput, fini --

all those cancer treatments are finished.  I am a free woman.  


It almost didn't happen today.  I got a phone message at 8:00 from the radiation technicians saying the computer was down and to call before I  came to make sure it was working.  For a minute, I thought my kids were somehow messing with me on my last day!  Luckily, the  techs called again an hour later and said we were back in business.  Steve came with me for my last trip.  I brought mini bottles of champagne to the technicians, nurses and doctor.  You get to know people pretty well when you see them everyday for 32 days!  It is great to be done!


My final steps are to have a CT Scan and PET scan the first week in June.  Those scans will be read by my oncologist to make sure everything's really and truly gone.  There is no doubt in my mind it is.  Then, it's short term follow up visits with all the doctors for several years.


It has certainly been a long and winding road since July 14, 2010.  As I think about the key touchpoints along the way, what really stands out are the people I met.  The people who took the time to reach out to me and really touch my life and my progress.  Many were complete strangers.  Each one reached out to me and said something to give me a huge boost.   


For example, there is a homeless man who sells poems on San Vicente Blvd.   He has been there for forever.  As I pulled up to the stoplight last week he hollered over to me "Hey beautiful, I love your hair.  Do you celebrate Easter?  I have a poem for you, beautiful, no charge!"  He ran across two lanes of traffic and gave me his Easter poem.  I was wiping my eyes all the way home.  And you know what, everyone I've told that story to was touched in exactly the same way.  


There was the "contessa" coming out of my surgeon's office, tall and beautiful with incredible silver hair, leaning on a man's arm and using a silver cane.  She was leaving the waiting room but saw me sitting there as I was waiting for a pre-op meeting for my double mastectomy.  She  regally waltzed across to me and in a european accent declared "You are beautiful.  You will soon have hair just like mine.   It will be beautiful.  Go get rid of all those wispies, shave your head and you will be beautiful.  Come give me a hug."


There was my gardener who brought me special coffee with cancer curing ingredients.  Or even the valet parkers who put my car front and center everyday I went to radiation.


The lesson learned is don't be afraid to reach out -- take the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life.  Some small comment or action can really make a difference.


My card box is very full of love in the form of wonderful cards, notes and letters from friends and family.  I cherish each and every message.  Each one helped pull me and my family through.


As I've said time and again, I wouldn't wish this club on anyone, but now that I am in it I cherish the membership and what it has brought into my life.


I want to share one last gift with you.  Today I received a Zuni Pueblo animal fetish.  It is a tradition of all Pueblo people to remind us of specific qualities of particular animals that we may find in our selves.  My fetish was a coyote. Not my favorite animal but here is what the Pueblo people say about Coyotes and why it is so apt.


Coyote is called the "trickster" in numerous cultures.  Life, however, is the real trickster and Coyote understands this.  By accepting situations as they are and dealing with the unexpected willingly and eagerly, Coyote survives.  Coyote reminds us that life is unpredictable and uncontrollable and that unexpected occurrences can be viewed as opportunities, not misfortunes.  Coyote's wisdom reminds us to live in the moment and wonder at it all.  


We will indeed, continue to wonder at  it all.