How GREAT that your boy opened up to you - and terrific that he did the bits you'd asked of him! No need to clip him around the ears now! ;)
Boys (and men) can be tricky to read sometimes. My better half has the start of dementia & still has no idea why we were up at Port Macquarie where I was having my rads every day .... I think he is telling people I went to play ukulele! LOL Matter of fact, he injured himself up there & I ended up caring for HIM the whole time, making sure he took his pain meds every 4hrs for the whole 4 weeks! :( It really was a PAIN!! But I can laugh about it now .....
Enjoy your time leading up to Chemo ..... do what you enjoy doing - be it resting, reading, swimming, biking ... whatever! The busier you keep yourself, the better! I hope your reactions to it aren't drastic.
Take care