I have never felt the want or need to post anything on a forum of any kind but this is different. 
My father was always a very fit and strong man with very few health issues. He always pushed himself to his limit and achieved many things. In March/ April of this year he suffered what we believed to be two mini strokes after a bike ride leaving him with slight speech issues but no other problems. After an MRI to assess any damage we were given the news that he actually had a brain tumour. We were told that it could be removed so prepared ourselves for a relatively serious operation on a 76 year old. On the morning of the operation I received a call from dad asking to be picked up as he no longer wanted the surgery. He was informed that it would only give him another 12-14 months. The risk's outweighed the benefits so he decided to take his chances. After signing him out of the hospitals care we were told that he would probably only have 2-3 months. I cannot explain the devastation I felt let alone what he was feeling but he had made his decision. He had always lived his life on his terms. This was on the 9th of July. By the 20th of July he had severely deteriorated and needed lots of care but he was still in there fighting. He died on the 29th of July, 20 days after we were told 2-3 months. I wasn't prepared and I struggle to understand how an illness can take away a life so cruelly so quickly. 
I know that there are a million other stories like mine and that others also deal with this on a daily basis. My heart goes out to each and every one of you.