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Be Not Afraid Beyond Medicinethe end. It wasn’t a matter of principles: in the laststages of breast cancer, she was heavily dependenton painkillers and accepted palliative care. But sheinsisted that dying was a family matter, and did whatshe could to prevent it from being medicalized. As anurse recalls:Once it was clear to Tina that she was really going to die,she made a concerted effort to stay clear of everythingbut the basics. She wasn’t rude about it, but she wasadamant: “If I’m going to die anyway, there’s no pointin coming to the doctor’s office, or having blood drawn,or being weighed, or anything like that. The importantthing is that I’m comfortable enough to live.”Refusing to stay in bed, even when nauseated andweak, she dragged herself to work (a desk job near herhouse) as often as she could. “I’m not dying of cancer,”she said. “I’m living with it.”Near the end Tina dismissed her home-care nurses,saying her family could care for her as well as anyoneelse. And they did – right to her last breath. I don’tbelieve there was one nurse or doctor present whenshe went.Moving beyond medicine does not always meanmoving toward death. In fact, I have even seen the4