Seis de Mayo

Well, I had my last treatment on Thursday. Yes it's true. It was supposed to be on Wednesday, but the ole cyclotron was acting up, so it was postponed by a day. Even though proton radiation is still an advanced cancer treatment, I do think I will be looking back on this 3-story behemoth in the not-too-distant future and it will seem a lot like the days when it took an entire room to house the computer that could power a game of Pong. In other words, a much smaller apparatus will be along very soon.

So, today you get a treat! Pictures! (I totally forgot how to post pictures properly, so I struggled with this one. I am the least tech-savvy blogger I know, I think.)

Here is the cuddly behemoth.

There is no floor under that table, you're kinda just suspended there. Looks like a place where evil aliens would do bad things to you, no? And to be honest, in my recent experience, that has not been so far from the truth. Except that they're people. And they are very nice.

Don't I look a little maniacally happy in this photo? You can tell it's my last day, huh?

Since my last treatment was SUPPOSED to be on Cinco de Mayo, D went wild at the party store to get festive, themed decorations. It was sweet. And I don't know anyone who likes to go to the party store more than he does. But then my treatment was delayed for a day so here I am below with some of the staff at the Proton Center celebrating "Seis de Mayo". They couldn't resist a sombrero.

D also brought a couple of nips of Cuervo so we both did a shot of tequila. I bet that doesn't happen there very often, but I guess you never know.

Then I got to ring "the bell" in commemoration of my last treatment and C helped me as you can see.

I thought I would get choked up and cry due to the catharsis of it all. When I think all the way back to diagnosis and the fertility stuff and everything that has followed, it just feels kinda overwhelming. But in the end, it was just a happy, fun day. And I had another one of those waves of relief that I've had several times during this experience.