Treatment Countdown 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

ONE and DONE!

Go on now, go. Walk out the door. Just turn around now, ’cause you’re not welcome anymore! Weren’t you the one who tried to break me– WELL, GOOD-BYE! Did you think I’d crumble? Did you think I’d lay down and die? Oh no, not I! I will survive! Oh, as long as I know how to love I know I’ll stay alive. I’ve got all my life to live. I’ve got all my love to give. And I’ll survive, I will survive!

I couldn’t help adopting Gloria Gaynor’s anthem (lyrics above, with one important edit, in red!) to accompany my exit from my LAST radiation treatment.

After I danced down the hall, I cried, tears of relief and joy.

It’s been almost nine full months since I was diagnosed with breast cancer on June 10th. (Interesting side note—that’s about how long Steve and I had been married prior to my diagnosis, as well, nine months). After 16 weeks of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and 5 weeks of radiation, I’m now done with treatment for cancer. Though I was officially declared cancer-free post-surgery, I finally feel I can say “Bye-bye cancer!” with feeling.

And it feels gooooood.

My skin (ouch) still has to recover from radiation, and then there will be a couple of follow-up reconstructive surgeries. But as I noted when I started this countdown, today feels like a significant milestone. Back when I was first told I would need chemo, surgery, and radiation, the prospect of all of it seemed so overwhelming. It was hard to imagine this day. Now it’s done, and I can move forward and focus fully on healing.

Feeling good and healing better. And to top it off, my celebratory iced latte, fortuitously, matched the card Steve gave me–and both are the color of shamrocks and four-leafed clovers.

Yay! I couldn’t have said it better myself.