The Last Waltz

Remember The Band?!  Martin Scorsese directed a documentary called The Last Waltz around their last performance in 1976 -- it's amazing if you've never seen it.  Well, it seems like it's been forever, but yesterday was my LAST chemo treatment -- I'm calling this my Last Waltz.  The song Stagefright has the following chorus:

      See the man with the stage fright,
      Just standin' up there to give it all his might.
      He got caught in the spotlight,
      But when we get to the end
      He wants to start all over again.

Well, it seems like it's been forever, but yesterday was my last chemo treatment!  I'm going to call this my Last Waltz.  By the way, the Last Waltz is not a bad thing, it's about change, and change is good.  Unlike the song, I don't want to start all over again.

I wrote the following during the treatment.

This morning in preparation to alleviate my stagefright [i.e. a panic attack] I drank some green tea, meditated, prayed, did some stress-reducing breathing exercises, and took some Xanax.  On my way driving in, I thanked the angels for clearing the roads of all the snow and ice from yesterday's brief storm [heard a "you're welcome"].  I thought "life is good,"  which seemed like a strange thought considering, but it was there anyway, and it was heartfelt. Another musical link:  She Talks to Angels

Yesterday I had labs drawn through the chemo port in the morning and saw the medical oncologist in the afternoon.  My labs were fine, as usual.  The port was left open overnight to save some time today.

To help diffuse the stagefright I have a magazine, a book, sudoku, lots of paper, and my cell phone [on vibrate].  Texting with friends helps to keep me in the moment.  [Thanks to Sandy, Bernadette, Robert and Jolita for the helpful distractions.]  It's all working.  The process is going quite well this time, and even a little bit quicker than usual.  I need to go back in a week for more blood work, then I probably will never see this place again.  The staff here at the IV Therapy Dept at Yavapai Regional Medical Center are really special -- I'm almost going to miss them.  They will be in my prayers!

Now I start the process of dealing with the after effects of the chemo.  I decided that since the process today went so well, there's no reason why the rest of this can't go exceptionally well, right? 

Do I hear an "amen"!?!