November 18, 2010 was my last Herceptin treatment....#52. Hooray! Some of my biggest supporters showed up to celebrate the occasion with me. Team SOS is truly amazing! It was really a little party. I made pumpkin and almond/banana muffins for everyone in the chemo room. My favorite!
Here I am feeling a little giddy while I get my last IV drip of Herceptin. So long orange chair!!!
The most caring team of nurses possible! 3 amazing women! I will miss seeing them each week. 
I married one remarkable man. He knew the magnitude of this day and wanted to make it special. A sense of ceremony has always been important to him whether it's in a military, athletic or religious setting. He wanted to create that feeling of ceremony that signifies the importance of an event. Once I was unhooked from my last treatment, he began the ceremony........He wrote a little speech and had my friends hold a finish line ribbon for me to cross. He could barely read it between the tears of joy.....I think most of us were more than a little weepy. The entire chemo room stopped and listened. It was beautiful.......the most perfect ending. After the speech, he adorned me with a perfectly pink finisher medal signifying the end of my 21 months of treatment.....from diagnosis, to surgery, to chemo, to radiation and then Herceptin.
Mark's ceremony speech to me: "You Have Finished"
"Cancer is one of those things that is thrust upon you and it is how you deal with it that shows who you are, and what you are made of. You've endured surgery, chemo, radiation and finally, a year of Herceptin. Now you have finished. Your family and friends rallied around you. They supported you every step of this journey, a journey that you never expected to take. But the journey made you stronger and now you have finished. Because of this journey, you have become the person sought out to consult others when they are hit with this terrible diagnosis. This work is just starting. Because of this journey, you have inspired others to be more fit, more healthy and cherish life. Because you know that inspiring this change in others is the way for them to fight cancer before it starts. For this you are not finished, this work will never be done. These are just two of your callings that will go on long past today. But today is special. This long test of endurance is over. Finishing is difficult, whether it be a triathlon, or your first half-marathon. So when you complete one of these events you are recognized as a finisher. Because when you start enduring a long event it requires you to focus all of your mind, body and spirit. And when you finish, your mind, body and spirit are stronger, and the reward is within you. But just to make sure everyone else knows, they give you a finisher medal. Today is a milestone. You've completed an endurance event that took almost two years to get through. But you did it. You've finished. You know you did it. The reward is within you. But just to make sure everyone else knows.....congratulations, here is your finisher's medal."
Go Team SOS! I'm so blessed to call this valiant group of talented, compassionate women my friends. I rowed with many of them........miss those mornings on the water!
My oncologist..........yet another amazing woman who gave so much of herself throughout my treatment. She was more like my friend or sister than my doctor. I believe she truly was a gift from God who gave me strength and hope. She is so gentle and sincere.
So, what does one do after their last Herceptin treatment? I had lunch with my husband then we went for a bike ride together. It's rare that we get to ride together because we are usually tag-teaming the kids to get our exercise in. The whole day was such a high.....I didn't want that feeling to end. I finished Herceptin, but my journey will never be over. I have constant reminders of where I've been and what I've endured. It will truly never end; however, it is a new chapter on a new path.......survivorship. I expect it to be a bit of an adjustment........change is usually like that. I look forward to the new scenery and a little less eventful.......boring is sometimes good.
Thanks to everyone one who cheered me....near and far.....on my last day of Herceptin. Your love will never be forgotten. xxxooo --srb
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