This Thursday, my port is coming out! This is the very last procedure/surgery on my cancer journey, the end of the line on a trip I never wanted to take. It also marks my two year anniversary since diagnosis.

I’m pleased to reach this milestone and even happier to get rid of the funny bump by my collarbone. But even more, it feels symbolic–as if to say I’m done being a cancer patient, done with chemo forever. Two years out isn’t enough to be so sure about that, but getting the port out at least kind of stakes my claim in the territory. I am so done with cancer treatment (except for my nightly white Tamoxifen pill.)

I’m sad that my Dad isn’t here to share this milestone with me. He was so supportive of my throughout my cancer journey, from the very first Valentine’s card a few days after my diagnosis through many prayers and phone calls. He asked a lot of questions and was always concerned about how I was doing. He was waiting by the phone after every procedure or surgery, anxious to hear that all was well. I know he would be thrilled by this, but also that he would full of gratitude: “God is gracious. God is good.”

I think I will learn from my Dad and frame this event with gratitude: I am thankful for successful treatment, for a reasonably easy process, for good doctors, and for family and friends that have encouraged and helped me through it all. God is, indeed, gracious. He is good.