Ringing the Bell!

“I thank my God every time I remember you.”
Philippians 1:3 (NIV)

In 1996 U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Irve Le Moyne was undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancer at M.D. Anderson. At one point during his therapy, Admiral Le Moyne told his doctor that he planned to follow a Navy tradition of ringing a bell to signify “when the job was done.” Le Moyne brought a brass bell to his last treatment, rang it several times and left it at the hospital as a donation. The bell was mounted on a wall plaque in the M. D. Anderson’s Radiation Treatment Center with the inscription:

Ringing Out

Ring this bell
Three times well
Its toll to clearly say,
My treatment’s done
This course is run
And I am on my way!
— Irve Le Moyne

Since MD Anderson established this small but significant gesture, the tradition of bell ringing for the end of cancer treatments has spread through the United States. When a brass bell rings through hospital halls, those listening to its chime understand that whoever is ringing the bell has struggled through the difficulty of cancer treatment, has endured, and is signifying their victory with pride and long-standing tradition. The bell’s toll stands as a testament to both the endurance and persistence of patients battling cancer and the care and dedication of nurses, doctors, and staff who kindly treat patients through some of their most difficult days.

Last Thursday morning I got to ring the bell following my sixteenth and final breast cancer radiation treatment. Norman, one of my kind radiation therapists who has made the last three weeks a little easier, announced the milestone over the outpatient center’s loudspeaker. Patients in the waiting room cheered and applauded as Michelle, my other radiation therapist, took my picture ringing the bell.

“Thank you” seems terribly inadequate for all that so many of you have done to help and encourage my family over the last 13 months since James Bruce’s death and my breast cancer diagnosis. We have been, and continue to be, well loved and cared for. Thank you for every card, note, meal, gift, prayer, text, visit, and phone call. Each is a sacrificial act of love and kindness for which I am forever grateful.

Years ago,  a parent whose five-year-old had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor, stood in his driveway as I dropped off a meal and said, “Thank you will never be enough.” I’ve thought a lot about Jim’s words over the last three months, and quite frankly, I feel the same way.  The best way I know to properly thank each of you for loving us through the last thirteen months is to pray for you and your family. I have dozens of cards representing all ages and stages of life. I won’t be able to pray for everyone at once, but I can take five or six cards each day and pray the same prayer that Boaz prayed for Ruth as she cared for her widowed mother-in-law:
“May the LORD reward your work and your wages be full from the LORD.” Ruth 2:12

For now, please know how very grateful Bruce and I are for each of you. I am convinced that just as God never wastes our suffering, He never wastes our acts of kindness either. Jesus once said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40 NIV)

Gratefully,
Donna