“No fresh flowers,” my doctor said. “Avoid salad. No uncooked food. And don’t bring visitors home.”

Treatment for breast cancer took the better part of a year, and a lot of that time, I spent alone. No wonder cancer sometimes comes with depression.

I had chemotherapy for sixteen weeks, and after each session, my white blood cell count dropped dangerously low. It’s a side effect called neutropenic fever, and it nearly took my life. Chemo saved me, but it almost killed me in the proc...