Matt has been coming here every weekday since August 7th, but driving down Monday morning didn't seem so hard, when we knew that we only had treatments #29 and #30 left. We spent that night at my brother's place in Innerkip, then came back Tuesday morning, ready to celebrate Matt's last radiation treatment.
He said his thank yous and goodbyes to the team of "rad techs" that took care of him each day, grabbed his mask, and then we headed out to the lobby so that he could bang the gong.
After that, my sister Lynette met us with a wagon filled with 43 cancer care pouches that she made after running a campaign with her Stella and Dot customers. For every pouch that a customer purchased and donated, Lynette used the commission from the sale to fill it with items like hand sanitizer, tissues, gum, a book of puzzles and fizzy water. Each pouch had a small note of encouragement and the name of the customer that had donated it. Lynette and Matt spent some time walking around the clinic, giving out the pouches and chatting with other patients. It was pretty fun to watch them spread some joy to a few of the patients who were waiting for treatments or appointments.
This clinic is a pretty great place to be, but it's also a pretty great place not to be for the next month! Matt won't have to go back until October 16th when we get the results of a follow up MRI and pick up the drugs for his first round of oral chemo. In the meantime Matt has weights to lift at the gym, coffee to drink, football to watch and pumpkin pie to eat at Thanksgiving dinner. And the best part is, none of these things require 6 hours in the car.
This made me smile and tear up at the same time. You two are always looking at the positive side of things. I love what your sister did and I am sure it was cathartic for the recipients and Matt as well. When life gives you lemons...