It’s hard to avoid the negative aspects of cancer and chemo treatment: fatigue, isolation, and ruminations about life. But too much of that and we miss seeing the positives.

Let me name just a few of these:

1. Losing all those stubborn pounds that have resisted diet and exercise.
2. Being free to eat ice cream with hot fudge sauce. The fact that it doesn’t taste as good as it once did just means that I can eat all I want.
3. Postponing dental appointments, colonoscopies, haircuts, and other invasive medical procedures.
4. No dishwashing, carry out compost, pulling weeds, etc.
5. Having an unassailable excuse to avoid meetings and other events that I didn’t want to attend anyway.
6. Being insensitive to ambient temperature. I still get hot or cold, but it doesn’t seem to have much to do with the weather or what I’m wearing.
7. Unlimited streaming with no guilt.
8. Good excuse for my slowed walking pace; so much better than “getting old” or “being lazy.”
9. Learning much about how our amazing body works. Like Heidegger’s broken hammer, we understand it best when it’s broken.
10. Reminder to focus on the things that matter in the finite time we all have.