And then there were none

Life is good! Kevin has successfully completed his radiation treatments and takes his last chemo pill tonight.  We cannot believe how well Kevin has done through all of this.  Thanks for all of your prayers.  We believe God has been giving His support to Kevin through all of this thanks to your requests.

We've been doing a bit of celebrating to mark the occasion.

To start with, we marked the white flag lap with dinner out last night with DW and Joanie.  For those non-race fans, the white flag marks one lap to go...not a surrender.  Kevin has been quite the fighter in this battle and he's not giving up now.  DW drove so it was nice to be able to just sit back and let someone else be in charge. I wanted this post to be all happy, but I have tears in my eyes as I write when I think about what terrific friends we have.

Today was lab day.  We tried to press the doctor a little for more information on the next steps with chemo after this break, but didn't learn a whole lot.  Kevin goes back on March 18 for his MRI and additional lab work.  At that time they will make decisions on dosage and timing.  For now we believe it will be a 28 day cycle--5 days of chemo pills and 23 days of recovery.

Dr. Kwong did not have any qualms either about Kevin riding around in a semi for a week.  He did encourage Kevin to keep his legs moving to prevent blood clots.  Beyond that, just the usual, stay hydrated.

Alicia, the nurse who gives Kevin his radiation treatments, came out with a bounce in her step tonight. "Last one!" Generally, Kevin takes his phone off his hip and hands it to me before he goes into treatment.  Tonight, he took his phone off but didn't hand it over.  "Just a minute," he says. "I want to show her a picture."

I knew what was coming and could have crawled under the puzzle table. "Don't do that here," I pleaded.  "Take your phone with you."  They walked off, but I heard Alicia say, "He's handsome." Yes, Kevin was making one last ditch, desperate effort to set Alicia up with Keaton.  Really, what is she going to say? When someone shows you a picture of the homeliest little child, you have to say, "How cute!" I don't mean to imply that Keaton is homely, but what could the poor girl possibly say? I really don't want to know what thoughts were running through Alicia's head.

Kev said, "It couldn't have been that bad. They took their picture with me." Yep, Kevin took a selfie with Justine and Alicia. He also earned a certificate signed by his doctor and all of the nurses. AND, to top it all off, he even got to take his lovely mask home.  What does one do with a mesh mask?  I cannot imagine they would ever re-use it if he had radiation again. Kev suggested a strainer...I don't think so.

We topped the evening off with a fabulous dinner at the Freight House with Kevin's parents.  Steaks all around. Dave and Polly knew the cook working tonight so we were given the extra special treatment beyond what we ordered--extra large servings of prime rib, a serving of shrimp, a bowl of mushrooms, and, just when we thought we might burst, a chocolate dessert to share. To quote Kailey, "We had to open up the dessert compartment because the dessert compartment never gets full."

When I think back, I realize how much time I spent mentally working through the "what ifs" to be prepared for how Kevin might feel during these treatments. Should I try to get him to go home at lunch and take a nap? Should we get some sort of bed in one of the extra offices so he can lay down when he needs to? All for naught.  Hallelujah!

Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 

Psalm 95: 2-3