FINAL CHEMO!!!

I couldn't even sleep last night.  I was too darned excited about being done with this step of my journey.

Prior to going in to my Club Chemo visit, I stopped at the best donut shop in town.  Well, it's the only donut shop in town.  I picked up two dozen lovely fried dough balls, along with some croissants and pastry.  You see, I'm such a regular at Club Chemo, I know that Nicole doesn't like donuts, but she loves croissants.  My brain makes room for stuff like this, but sadly, this bit of information about Nicole pushed out something that was likely important...like paying the PG&E bill or feeding the fish.  Anyhow, I got my donuts and took off for the Club.

I needed to see Nurse Practitioner Christine before going back to the Club.  Being super smart, I asked if I could go back to the Club first and drop off my party donuts.  As I was going back, I announced to every person that I passed, "IT'S MY LAST DAY OF CHEMO!  EAT A DONUT!"  Seriously.  I shouted it.  Heads turned.  I just couldn't seem to help myself.

I walked into the Club and told Nicole that I brought party donuts.  She made a face like, "ew...nice...ew".  Then I said, "And there are croissants in there..." with a lilt in my voice.  Her eyes lit up and her face changed to, "YOU ROCK!"  Yes, I do.

Then I looked over to my right and lo and behold...MY chair was open.  I asked if I could leave my bag while I went to my appointment and, well heck...I was holding a big giant pink box of goodness...how could they say no???

The sheer amount of giddiness that I had about achieving my goal of having the same chair for all four visits was ridiculous.  I practically skipped over.  Okay, so I actually skipped over...with my free arm waving to the other guests in their cabana chairs.  "I brought donuts...it's my last chemo!!!!"  A man and his wife was leaving the Club and he said, "Life is easy after this."  I shot him a smile and then tried to shove a donut into his hand.  I'm such a food pusher, even in an environment such as the Club.

My visit with NP Christine, aka the Dog Lover, went well.  She did everything that she needed to do and checked all of my labs.  Then we talked about my BodyMedia that I wear on my arm and about her dog and how he played tug-of-war with a piece of linoleum in her husbands shop.  I'm sure that the next patient was waiting with a foot tapping wondering where in the hell Christine was.  Sorry fellow cancer patient.

This is Christine with her 9 month old Golden...she rocks him in a chair every night for 20 minutes.

Kelly, the medical assistant that takes my weight (she's been sworn to secrecy...pinkie swear...it is legally binding), brought her scarf with her so that I could show her how to do a turban.  She planned on spending her lunch break with me in the Club so that we could do a lesson.

My fancy turban wrap.

After my time with Christine, I went back to the Club and guess what?  My chair still had my bag in it and there were more people that had arrived...and they were eating my donuts.  Sheer bliss.  And when every new Club member walked in and said, "Who brought donuts???"  I announced, "ME!!!  IT'S MY LAST CHEMO!!!"  Big smiles, thumbs up and congratulations came at me left and right.  It was such a big difference from my first visit to Club Chemo.  I remember thinking that it was very doom and gloom.  Now I knew what kind of donut Edna preferred.  Glazed old fashioned.  I also learned that Edna is a messy eater, because Nurse Sandra complained of the crumbs that she left behind.  I made a mental note to double check my chair when I left.

See that chocolate old fashioned?  That was mine.

The cocktail was the same as always, but it seemed to go by faster.  I still had to unplug and go to the bathroom half a dozen times, but it just didn't seem to be an issue any longer.  Sandra looked at me each time I walked past her station and smile.  I'm going to miss her.  She was the first to put the cocktail in me and, as it turned out, she was the one that drained the last bag.

Nurse Sandra with me...love her.

This was an experience that I'll never forget.  Good bye Club Chemo.  I'm changing my vacation spot to somewhere warmer...Destination Radiation.

The next chapter to come!