There were others too, dozens of white marble-shaped nodules scattered through his lungs. This wasn't just any cancer. It was the same kind he'd beaten 10 years earlier. It was back, and it was bad. And it meant Vernon would have to make a choice.
Some people die quickly, from heart attacks, in accidents or from gunshots.
But for many, dying is a long process in which a chronic disease progresses until the liver and kidneys, heart and lungs shut down. In those deaths, medicine can be a friend or a foe. It can trap a person in a jungle of tubes and machines, prolonging life painfully without adding hope. Or, it can help a terminally ill patient remain pain-free and relatively comfortable until death comes. Until the mid-20th century, most people died at home.