I wasn’t scared of the painful side effects from surgery.

I wasn’t scared of fatigue and emotional drain from a packed schedule of cancer doctor appointments.

I wasn’t scared of humongous machines filled with radiation.

And I wasn’t scared of chemotherapy … I was petrified.

When I was first diagnosed, I only knew a few people who went through cancer treatment. And I didn’t know much about their experiences, so I really had no idea what to expect. I feared the worst when I was told I needed chemo; my stomach sank and anxiety filled my chest. I imaged myself regularly hugging a toilet, unable to leave the house and participate in life for 16 weeks of treatment. But this wasn’t my experience at all. In fact, my first chemo treatment was just me, my husband, two nurses and an IV.