Corinne always took a book and her favorite magazines to the clinic for chemo day. But she rarely was in a frame of mind to pay much attention to them. There is no greater reminder that a disease is running through your body, intent on killing you, than lying under the bag of poison as it drips into your veins.

Since we knew Corinne would be immobilized all day, we would make a To-Do list for me: errands to run around the city while she was getting chemo. I usually chose to stay by her side most of the day, but I always went out around lunchtime to get her some new treat she had in mind.