Treatment Cycle 14 - Day 1

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14 down, 4 to go! I'm feeling great. Other than the usual skin troubles, which come and go, I'm not having any side effects. My energy is high too, which is a blessing as I'm extremely busy at work and running around after Ike at home. And I'm so happy that I'll be done with treatment in less than three months!

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Our neighbor - the one who had to sell his house to pay his medical bills - died on Saturday morning. We knew that it was coming - we had seen a truck parked in front of the house a few weeks ago labeled "Hospice Care", and our landlord, who was close friends with him, told us last week that he only had a few days left. Still, it was upsetting. We could hear his three children playing together that night, too young to really understand what was happening, and somehow the normalcy of their talking and laughing - so innocent and free from sorrow - was almost sadder to me than if they had been crying. I feel heartbroken for his wife - now his widow - I can't imagine what she's feeling. A notice of pending demolition was posted at their house last month, and while of course the new owner was well within their rights to do so, I thought how terrible it must be for our neighbor to see it every time she left the house, knowing that she was about to lose her husband and her home.

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