Profiles in Pink Blog: Suzie LaPlant’s tricks to distract you from cancer are magnificent. By the time you leave the infusion room, you feel like you’ve hung out with an old friend. And the chemo? You would’ve hardly noticed it.

Of course that’s easy to say when you’re a visiting reporter, not a patient with a tube coming out of your chest.

I hope my story doesn’t make light of what cancer patients go through. Suzie told me chemo made her lose feeling in her toes, to the point where a blister formed without her ever realizing. Marshall Sack (who you’ll meet Wednesday) told me, “A word hasn’t been invented for the fatigue you feel.” And those are only the experiences of two survivors. What would the thousands of people who died as a result of their chemotherapy’s side effects have said?

Telling stories about cancer puts you in a tough spot. On one hand, you want to advocate awareness and hope. On the other, you want to be truthful about how terrifying the disease is. There’s also the dilemma of whose story to tell. Do you focus on Suzie, who karate-kicked breast cancer to the curb, or on the equally-spirited Maricela Ochoa-Henderson (you’ll meet her Thursday), trapped inside a failing body that gets weaker every day?

I can’t say that I ever found the answers, but I tried. You’ll see in later pieces the more difficult side of breast cancer, but in this infusion room story, you’ll see pure optimism. That’s how I sincerely felt leaving the building that day. Suzie did her job and I’m not complaining.