On Saturday morning, a friendly volunteer from a local cancer support foundation showed up at my front door with a backpack full of snacks for chemo, an Uber gift card, and a warm blanket to accompany me to the hospital. I can’t tell you how touched I was. The volunteer told me he’d been doing this for 25 years.

You meet a lot of nice people in Cancer World. So many of them are people touched by cancer who are looking to give whatever support they can. Cancer is a very isolating experience, it helps.

And then, on Saturday afternoon, an old friend showed up to take me to lunch. We sat outside under an umbrella and talked politics and books. (Like me, he reads a lot.)

I thanked him. Being outside helped me feel human again, not just a sick person.