I finished up radiation on May 13th, a couple of weeks ago. I took chocolate-dipped strawberries to all the hospital personnel who laid hands on me during the process. Yesterday, I had a conversation with Jean, my radiation nurse who mentioned how much the berries had been appreciated. Especially by Dr. Nelson who took them home to his children who LOVED them. I thought that was nice. So for all of you, here's a virtual strawberry!
(This shows the obvious drawback of virtual food. About the only good thing it's good for is losing weight and sparking imagination! You can't smell it or eat it or touch it or feed it to a friend. But you can dream... .)
Thank you all so much for continuing to check in and communicate your encouragement. Know that it was felt and buoyed me at various times during this adventure. I did pretty well staying positive, but I couldn't have done it nearly as effectively without the support expressed on this blog. There are still a few follow up hurdles to jump but in terms of the blog, I think today will be my final entry. I'm left feeling grateful, actually - grateful the tumor was found when it was, grateful for my medical care, grateful to Ann for engineering the blog (Thank You Ann!!!), grateful I decided to reach out and connect with you, people from many layers of my life, grateful I live in this country where (despite the angst we have for our health care system) we have amazing technology to do what I needed done, and grateful that I have an opportunity to think about the tomorrows that lie ahead and what I want to do with them.
In closing, Mary Oliver, once again, comes to mind. And I'll leave it here with the question she poses in "The Summer Day," a poem that starts with a grasshopper and ends with the provocative question,
With significant appreciation,
Charlie
