1: The End

Julie Yip-Williams, diagnosed with terminal stage 4 colon cancer at age 37, documents her final years to confront the reality of death with radical honesty. Rejecting the "warrior" narrative often imposed on cancer patients, she seeks to understand the physical and emotional decline of her body through writing and recorded conversations with her editor, Mark Warren. Her approach balances a pragmatic desire to control her end-of-life experience—ensuring her children feel secure and informed—with an intellectual curiosity about the "unwinding" of her life. By sharing her experiences of grief, jealousy, and fear, she provides a counter-narrative to the toxic positivity found in support forums. This documentation serves as both a personal legacy for her daughters and a candid exploration of what it means to face mortality without illusions.