Stage 4 at 42: Chemo, Kids, and (Zero?) Silver Linings

Michelle had a baby “late,” because the universe whispered, “You’re not done.” Then the universe immediately said, “Cool, here’s six months of nonstop nausea, a buttercream cake that will detonate your insides, and an ER doctor in a hallway casually dropping: ‘It’s unlikely to be benign.’" Surprise. It’s stage four colon cancer.

She’s a single mom. She’s in her early 40s. Her youngest is two. Her body is basically a haunted house of symptoms: vomiting, numb limbs, cold-air throat-closing, and chemo so toxic the nurses dress like it's the apocalypse… before pumping it into her vein.

To top it off: Steroids would make her Type 1 diabetes a blood-sugar circus. She clings to one ritual—showing up at the dinner table every night. One day she proclaims, ‘I’m done.’ No inspirat ...