I can't begin to express how relieved I am to get my schedule back again after my final treatment today. While there will be followup doctor's appointments and lab work in the months to come, the 9 week daily grind of absolutely, positively having to be somewhere every day does take its toll, particularly when it is in the middle of the work day.
I am proud to say I was never late for even one appointment and also have a perfect record of demonstrating the joy a serious Christian should have to all I have encountered, even on days when I didn't exactly feel like it. Just being joyful no matter what the circumstances you find yourself in can be a very powerful witness, it really doesn't require any special words or favorite Bible verses. It does cause people to wonder why you are the way you are and that's when you can give them an honest answer, telling how much Jesus has done for you and how it's a gift that is available to all who believe. This giving a testimony by the way you live has never failed me, even in foreign lands and in dealing with people of other faiths. Rather than beating someone over the head with "My way is better than your way!", waiting for a sincere question works like a charm. There is no wrong answer if someone really wants to know what makes you tick. It does take time and relationship building. The person may come away thinking you are crazy or a zealot, but they will know what your sincere world view is when you're done with your story. And sometimes, being moved by the Spirit, they want to know more.
I checked in as usual, showing the front office staff my picture of the day and getting my temperature taken for the last time (I always ask if I'm going to live because it's always 96 degrees after coming in from my air conditioned truck!). I went to the waiting room and listened for them to call for Mr. DeVore. I tried as hard as I could and still never got them to yell out for Dave or even Mr. Dave. They are well trained and their mothers brought them up right. One last time showing the radiation techs my smile of the day, which is what I call the picture. Then telling them my birthday to make sure I wasn't some impostor just wanting to get some radiation and one last time getting comfy in my body cast. I thought it was actually a rigid cast of me from the waist down and asked at one point if I could take it home, paint it pink and use it as lawn art to moon my neighbors. That got some laughs! It turns out it has air in it and they sanitize it, deflate it and use it for the next guy. Oh well, it was a funny thought. After positioning me in the radiation machine, the technicians left the room to go behind the slowly closing lead door. I laid there motionless, listening to my last song in that room, which turned out to be piano music like you would hear in a hotel lounge. I don't know if they have a music service, I've never heard any commercials, but they do play a lot of 60's and 70's stuff for us old guys. It makes the time go. The piano music threw me for a loop, I was expecting Beatles or Led Zepellin. Kind of a surreal ending note! Once in position, I was looking up at the ceiling. They have transparent pictures of clouds and blue sky covering the fluorescent lighting. I really need to get them to put some of my pictures up there, the clouds never change and have gotten pretty boring after all this time.
Once my treatment was done, I had gotten dressed and made the obligatory mad dash to the bathroom, the staff surprised me with a going away celebration. Not really a surprise, I knew it was coming, a client of mine had gone through the process at this clinic a few years ago and spoiled it, plus I had suspected several other completion parties during my 9 weeks when I could hear clapping and cheering. As I rounded the corner to leave the clinic for the last time, at least for treatment, there was the staff, just as I thought, clapping and cheering. They handed me a bell to ring as much and as loud as I could. I told them after ringing it with vigor that now I also needed hearing aids! I was informed of what my next steps would be, blood work and followup visits with my urologist in 1 month and with the radiation oncologist a month or two later. I was given a bag of goodies, including a diploma and a lucky horseshoe to remind me of them. When it was my turn to speak, I thanked everybody and told them I had something for them as well. A printed out thank you note and a different picture for each of them.
I gave a copy to each of the folks at the clinic that I know by name along with a personal thank you written on it and each person got a different one of my nature photos that I printed out myself as 4x6 images. The ones I never met also got an envelope with the generic thank you and their own picture. I made 15 of them, figuring about 12 to 15 staff members work at the clinic. I told the doctor that I thought about a dozen people worked in his practice, but that I had made 15 packages just in case. He said a total of 15 worked there. I think a God thing happened! I gave him the extra ones for those that couldn't be there and we said our goodbyes.
Following is the text of the open letter to everyone in the urology practice that has treated me:
I thank the Lord for each one of you! For some of you, mostly the front-line staff,
I have been able to bring a smile to you daily with my nature photography. I am fully aware that there are many more
folks behind the scenes doing lab work, designing treatment plans, determining radiation
dosages, doing necessary back office tasks and assisting in and performing the various
outpatient procedures I’ve needed leading up to my sessions at the radiation
oncology center. The professionalism you
have all exhibited has been outstanding.
Regardless of the situation, you have made me feel like I am the only
person in the world at that moment. This
is something I strive to do in my own business endeavors, it takes a conscious effort
and a natural heart for serving people.
Well done everybody!
As some of you know, I have written a blog detailing my
journey with you. It does not include
the name of the medical practice or any of your own names, but I would be glad
to share my experiences privately with anyone who asks me or wants a reference
from you. The main goal in writing this
blog has been to encourage others, both men and women, to get annual checkups
so problems can be detected while they are still treatable. A major passion in my life is nature
photography, so I have brought in a picture a day to each of my 45 radiation
sessions and other appointments and you have been eager to see them. At first, I was suspected of bringing in National
Geographic photos, but I pointed out that my copyright watermark is on each of
them! These pictures of the day are at
the end of each blog post and in a Google album I made just for you. Please feel free to follow my photography on
Facebook, where I am Dave DeVore. I have
posted at least one picture per day there since January 1st of 2015
and I credit this discipline for my steady progress. I currently have over 2000 FB friends and there
are many more that look at my work daily, so please friend me or you can just
stalk me from the shadows! I have a
professional photography web site at www.photoartbydave.com
where it is free to look at my images from central Texas and around the world,
including photos from my 19 trips to Kenya. I have split my time there between leading
missionary teams in the slums of Nairobi to correct vision problems for free
and instructing anyone in nature photography who wished to stay for 4 or 5 days
after our vision clinic was over, always at the best game parks in the world. It has been quite an adventure!
My blog can be viewed at http://davesexcellentadventures.blogspot.com
and the link to the Google photo album I have kept while I have been with you
is at: https://photos.app.goo.gl/e7TJALr9jSDha94K6
You have all become an important part of my life during
these last 9 weeks and I will truly miss you.
I look forward to bumping into you during follow up visits and maybe out
in real life. It may be hard to
recognize each other since we’ve been masked this whole time! My hope is that when you think of me, you’ll
remember that joyful Dave guy with the pictures who always tried to bring a
smile with a kind word or a bad joke. We have laughed a lot together, it promotes
healing, both physical and spiritual. Please
send me an email if you would like an electronic version of this document to
make following the web links easier for you.
Blessings to each of you, you have been a huge blessing to me. Amen!
The last picture of the day, for this phase of my relationship with the clinic anyway, is of a Black-chinned Hummingbird sipping from a Texas Red Yucca plant at the South Mueller Greenway butterfly garden.
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