Nick Robinson was in a position not unlike yours whitewave when he visited friend Steve Hewlett a few days before his death. As well as being BBC colleagues they had the shared experience of Robinson's cancer and he wrote this early one morning shortly afterwards.
"‘One last conversation
So much to say.
So little actually said.
But the pills, the piles of sympathetic letters, the constant flow of visitors said it all
We chat, we gossip, we exchange insights about our shared world.
I’m too British, too male, too stiff upper-lipped to really talk about the fact that it’s a world you and I both know you’ll soon be leaving
To talk about the fact that your “battle” is almost at an end
You “fought” they said.
You’ve been so “brave” they said
Yet you know, I know, anyone who has faced it knows differently
Cancer is not a battle.
There is no choice whether to fight let alone whether to win or lose.
No amount of courage no measure of cowardice can decide the outcome.
There is no virtue in survival. Certainly no lack of it in death.
I lived.
You now know that you will not.
Luck. Chance. Fate. Nothing more. Nothing less.
You didn’t …couldn’t choose
You didn’t …couldn’t decide.
Save, that is, for one thing.
You chose to confront your sickness, your pain, your fear in public
Your decision made thousands realise they were not alone
That really was brave. That a choice that let others know that their sickness, their pain and their fear was not, in fact, just theirs
That one last conversation which was so very worthwhile having.
As I leave you gripped my arm. An unspoken goodbye.
Only now do I know what I should have said.
No one who heard you talk about what you’ve faced will ever forget
Oh yes and one more thing.
Thank you.’ "
Thinking of you ww and all in similar circumstances 
Read more: metro.co.uk/2017/02/20/read-bbcs-nick-robinson-heartbreaking-tribute-to-radio-4-presenter-steve-hewlett-6461893/#ixzz4Zgu5mwlf
