The pain has little to do with the skill of the nurse giving the shot. Corinne became something of a connoisseur, able to feel the differences in technique, and she did develop some preferences. But I never heard her complain when she saw who was staffing the shot clinic on a particular day.

The problem with these shots to boost low blood counts is that the medicine, itself, stings and it has to be administered slowly. So, once the needle was in, it had to stay there for several minutes.

I have great respect for the courage of the people I've known who have cancer. They voluntarily undergo enormous pain and indignity in their various treatments. It's one thing for a healthy person to declare that she would go through anything to save her life. It's entirely another thing to get up each morning, knowing that this is going to be a day of pain, discomfort or indignity due to the cancer treatment, not even due to the cancer, itself.

We dream of the day when these treatments are more gentle and less destructive. We believe that day is coming.