Cutting Orchid Stems and Leaf Growth

About two weeks ago my favourite yellow orchid lost all of its blooms after 2 months.  Sadly, it was time.  I was unsure whether to cut the stems or not.  For those of you who are unsure, you face two choices:

1) Cut off the entire spike an inch from the base (where the stem grows out from the bottom of the leaves).  Doing this allows the plant to invest its energy into maintaining its health such as growing leaves and roots. If the conditions are right, you won't see more blooms until next year when a new spike grows with a full set of flowers.  The risk is that if your orchid decides to not produce a new stem, then you have a bloomless orchid  for two years :(

2) Cut the spike just above the node (the little bumps on the sides of the stem).  This may entice the orchid to produce a side shoot with blooms. However, the flowers on these types of stems are usually smaller and fewer in number as the plant has less energy to produce (I mean, it just worked super hard to get grow you a full stem and a set of flowers and now its being prompted for more!)

 Since it is my first year growing orchids, I was afraid that my orchid would not grow back so I opted for option #2.  See in the picture below where I cut the stem just above the node (that bulge coming out of the stem).  A new stem should grow out from that bulge in a couple of weeks.  HOWEVER...

...nothing may grow because of the new leaf growth (see below!). My yellow orchid may not have energy to produce more flowers, in which case, I will just go back to option 1 and cut the stems at the base. My course of action was the safest choice...and even though I know the flowers won't be as plentiful or large, I hope I get to see some yellow blooms sooner rather than later (aka next June!)