Done!!!

After six long months, I am finally done. Today was my last day of radiation, which means it was the last day of my treatments. The radiation treatments went extremely well, there are still very minimal side effects and I have more energy now than I have had in months. The staff at the Cancer Care Center in Beloit was phenomenal and I will miss seeing them on a regular basis - I will not miss doing the treatments, but I will miss the people, they are some of the best around.

Earlier this week I had a regular appointment with my primary doctor. This is the first time that I had seen her since we started this whole process. It was on March 1, at my last appointment with her, that the CT Scan was ordered to follow up on some pneumonia that I had a few months earlier. I will never forget that night as she called me and said I had follow up tests to do with other doctors because of something strange on my scan. That was the start of this whole process.

I remember getting the news that I had cancer and the range of emotions that flooded over me at the time. Now, as I look back at it, I also see the hand of God at work every step of the way. The doctors, the tests, the nurses, those working in the labs, the congregation, my friends and family - through all of these people, through all of you, I have seen the face of Christ and experienced the healing touch of God. This has been one heck of a ride and it has also been a time when I have been forced to slow down. It was in this slow down time, in this time of waiting, that I have experienced the grace of God in ways I never expected. And I thank all of you for being little Christ's and walking this walk with me.

The next step of this journey is the follow up portion. I have my first CT Scan on October 15th. The following Wednesday I will meet with the oncologist and get the results. The prayer now is that the scans will all be negative and I will be done with treatments forever. I am quite hopefully that everything has gone just as it should and we have wiped out all traces of this cancer that was in my system.

I will continue to do at least weekly updates on the blog. This weekend Jennifer and I are going to celebrate the end of treatments and our 10th wedding anniversary by taking a short trip. I am sure that there will be plenty for me to write about after that. Thanks for all and God Bless!!