In the 48 hours that followed my diagnosis, I had the most jarring sense of alienation from almost every other person on the planet. It's not that anybody was anything less than kind. It's that you have suddenly been isolated by fate and biology, and that cuts you off from everybody else. It's the realization that you may very well be exited off the planet, and that planet will keep spinning, and everybody on said planet will keep going about their business, pursuing their preoccupations. You just won't be there.
