ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the death of Matt and he died in rare form of cancer called neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer. It explores how social norms governing dying, death, and bereavement for formerly married spouses can be unexpectedly accommodating in a time when the commitments that bind individuals are easily undone and can leave mortally ill individuals on their own. Matt was a clinical professor of medicine and renowned reconstructive and plastic surgeon. Matt's surgeon mentor performed an ambitious set of procedures that removed a portion of his pancreas and debulked some of the tumors in the liver. Matt 'died' on the table during that 11-hour surgery, his body exsanguinated, but he was revived. Time was critical, and Matt had begun a chemotherapy regimen before his surgery, and he resumed it almost immediately after. After Last Rites were administered, Matt began his inexorable decline. Day-by-day he grew weaker but more peaceful.