I really enjoyed this one. Thanks for writing it. Was any of it from experience? I'm not usually a fan of AH (tho' it sure seems I'm catching up on more than my share of them currently, LOL)-- anyway, but this one caught my attention in particular, because back in the dark ages, ie the mid-1980's, I was a young nurse just out of nursing school, working most of the time through several agencies, and 90% of my patients were cancer patients. Mostly Terminally ill cancer patients, often in the last 3 mos of their life; and it was best (at least for me, and in my opinion for them) when they were patients who, and whose doctors also, were involved with Hospice care. Also, many of my patients/clients were Private duty cases, most often through an agency, again, patients with cancer, usually but not always terminal, but that was indeed in the dark ages, back when people actually HAD insurance that would PAY for private duty care... At any rate, your tale of Buffy as this sad but determined girl caught my eye. I was afraid it was going to be a losing battle for her, a sad ending, and I was determined to stick it through to the tissue-needing end. But I should've known this Buffy was stronger. And I was surprised and delighted that your Spike ended up being made of tougher stuff as well. It was a lovely ending chapter. At first I thought it WAS Spike and Buffy's wedding. But it of course was a great attestment to the two couples deep friendship that Xander & Anya would move their lives to be with friends so dear, and for them to stand up next to them in their wedding. Tara had a wonderful role in the tale, and she has seemed to be cast several times in this type of role easily. She fits it well. I also can always see Giles in the role of a doctor or psychiatrist.
You did a great job, with the mindset of the patient, the family, & the caregivers on this one, including Buffy's body-consciousness. A great job all around! I hope to see more fics from you in the near future!

Author's Response: Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it. It was not taken from personal experience but I have friends (as sadly, most of us do) that have lived through breast cancer and so some of the ideas came from them. It is very sad what has happened to the medical system today. I did a lot of research both on Breast Cancer as well as Alcoholism and AA and I tried to stick to a realistic view of both. I struggled for quite a while on whether to have her survive or not as you could see from the amount of time it took me to post the last few chapters. In the end I knew that the Buffy on the show would be strong enough to survive this, so mine should too. Thanks so much for reading and your wonderful review.