Part Forty-One: There is a Bell

            Across from the scheduling desk at OCSRI-Tulsa, there is a bell mounted on the wall with instructions next to it.  Upon completion of chemotherapy treatments, one is supposed to ring the bell three times. 

            Mona reminded me of the bell after my appointment with Dr. Moussa.  He gladly accepted my report about Wednesday’s visit with Dr. Smith, signed me out of chemotherapy on the computer, listened to my concerns about neuropathy, took a quick look at the new sore and swelling on my left arm, diagnosed it as cellulitis, and prescribed an antibiotic.  He looked at the calendar on the wall and entered in the computer an appointment with him for December 12, one month after my surgery.  He shook my hand and said he would send a nurse right in to take my port needle out from the blood draw for the usual lab work before my appointment.  Less than a minute later, the sliding door opened, and there he was with a nurse he had snagged in the hallway.  With a big grin, he joked, “Here is the nurse.  She’s never taken out a port needle before, but you can be her guinea pig.”  Naturally, she was an expert.  As we all left the exam room a couple minutes later, the technician who took my vital signs and entered my information on the computer gave me a big hug and a “congratulations.” 

            What a wonderful feeling it was to head straight back down to the first floor instead of down the hall to the chemo treatment room.  When we got to the bell, I asked Mona to take my picture before I rang it three times.  What I did not expect was the applause.  I turned to see the scheduling staff and various patients clapping for all they were worth.  The end of chemotherapy suddenly felt real as this host of strangers celebrated with me.

            A surprise was yet to come.  One of the schedulers led us over to the cafeteria area, which just gained a Starbucks about a week ago, and informed me that I would get a free coffee.  I decided on an iced caramel macchiato.  The barista told me the back story:  last week, a woman who had just finished chemotherapy had ordered a coffee, saying she was celebrating.  A moment later, the bell rang, and the barista realized that person had just finished chemotherapy.  She decided then and there that she would pay for a free drink for each bell ringer. 

            Funny how ringing a bell sealed the moment for me.  I am officially done with chemotherapy.  Today (Friday, October 28) I rang the bell on the hardest four months of my life.  Thanks be to God!