It hurts. Before the diagnosis, as the tumor in Corinne's neck grew, her discomfort increased. Toward the end, it was painful. But when the tumor nearly disappeared after the first chemotherapy, it only caused a small sore throat from time to time. (Corinne did say she could feel it "fighting back" after each chemo treatment.)

During chemotherapy, though, there were days of serious pain. Often it was bone pain caused by the Nupogen shots, which forced the rapid production of white blood cells in the bone marrow.

Pain interfered with Corinne's sleep and made her take potent hydrocodone pills for relief. But, while the hydrocodone worked, it caused painful constipation. And the laxatives for that produced a new type of pain. All of the mucous membranes of the body were prone to a range of opportunistic infections that seemed to heal slowly and come back quickly.