From Diagnosis to Determination - Oesophageal Junction Cancer Diary

  I used to wonder what it would feel like to ring the bell at the end of chemotherapy. People talk about it as a moment — a single, triumphant act. One pull of a rope, one sound, one ending. But standing there at the end of treatment, I realised it’s not just a moment. It’s a release. After seven chemotherapy cycles back to back, finishing wasn’t dramatic. It was quiet emotional in ways I didn’t expect. Getting to the end Chemotherapy slowly becomes your normal. Appointments, blood tests, side effects, recovery days that blur into the next cycle. Life shrinks to manageable units of time. You stop thinking weeks ahead. You focus on the next treatment. Then the next. By the final cycle, I wasn’t counting down with excitement — I was just determined to finish. My body was tired. My mind was foggy. But I knew I was close. When they told me, “This is your last one,” it didn’t feel real. The bell The bell wasn’t loud. But it was powerful. Ringing it wasn’t about celebration ...