Sadness

My friend J at work has a niece who is dying of cancer.  She is only 33.  She's been fighting the cancer for approximately 4 years.  It started off as breast cancer and has reappeared in multiple areas over the years.  She has fought so hard by having surgery, chemo and radiation and has even traveled to Mexico for some kind of  special treatment.  None of it has worked for very long.  Now her liver is distended and enlarged and is pushing against her stomach.  Eventually, her stomach will cut off her breathing. I am having a hard time dealing with it...I've only met her once, but I feel like I know her very well just by listening to the stories J tells me.  I also work with her father and our first grandchildren were born just a couple of months apart.  We used to exchange stories and show off pictures a lot when they were babies.  It has been a rocky road for him the last couple of years and he has been in denial about his daugher's illness.  I think it will finally hit him hard now.  Hospice has been called in and I think it will just be a matter of a few days to a couple of weeks.  She'll leave behind a wonderful husband and a sweet 7 year old boy who both love her like crazy. I can't quit thinking about how her death is going to affect so many people...even me.  She is a wonderful person and deserves more in life than she's going to get.  This one's gonna be bad...