Daniel Weatherby, 45, wealthy and fast dying from complications of a malignant neoplasm in the pharynx -throat cancer - was cut off from any living relatives, and unattached. But the reality of his aloneness and imminent death didn't particularly bother him. He was going to be cryogenically preserved. "Would you like another pillow?" the nurse asked, and waited for him to gesture with his head. Daniel had lost the use of his throat weeks ago. A man who prized silence above all else, he now wondered whether in a way the disease -if it weren't for the dying part - might not be a blessing in disguise, as he was no longer expected to talk. But lately he spent a lot of time drifting in and out of consciousness; his hands often turned blue; and his mouth was continually dry, his lips cracked. All this he could do without. He nodded and the nurse propped him up on a second foam cushion. She used glycerin swabs and lip balm to soothe his pain.
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