Last Day of Radiation

The last day of radiation was a big day for Rachel. Anna and mom came up to go to her graduation ceremony and we worked it out that Penny could come too. Emily had to stay outside and one of Rachel's nurses stayed with her. :( They wouldn't let her in because of hospital policy. It was a really nice day for us and we are so thankful that Rachel was able to do it.

We had lots to carry in with us. We gave a basket of goodies to the staff and we brought butter braid and fruit for everyone in the center. It's tradition to bring food for your last day.

Rachel has pretty much stopped carrying around Sweetie and Hippo. Now it's lipstick. The radiation therapists gave her a whole pack of lipstick the day before and she had to carry every lipstick with her. She's such a pack rat!

Getting her vitals done. She's really good at it. She tells the nurse where to do it and she knows what comes next.

Last day for anesthesia for a while- YEAH!! She got so use to getting her port accessed that she helped with the procedure. She would hold up her shirt and try to help remove the emla cream from her port. (the cream numbed the skin so it didn't hurt when the needle went in)

Cynthia and Dr. Porsche did the anesthesia on the last day. Rach liked both of them a lot.

This is Marge. Her husband was a patient at the center. He was getting radiation for Prostate cancer. Marge and I would sit and visit for at least an hour everyday while they were both getting radiation. It was nice to have someone to visit with. Thanks Marge. Hope all is going well!

This is her team for the last day. The team would change daily and they were all wonderful. As you can tell, it takes a lot of people to run the machine and take care of the patient. They gave Rachel a certificate that said she could now officially say "all done" since she would always tell them that while they were trying to get her to sleep and she didn't want to do it. They also gave her balloons and lots of presents. She also got to keep her mask and molds of her brain and spine they used for the plates- they're pretty cool.

Rachel got to hit this gong when she was done. It was pretty emotional for all of us. She was still pretty out of it from anesthesia so I had to do it. I have a video of it but I can't get it to post. :(

Emily chilling outside.