People don’t “lose the battle” with cancer. To go down fighting to the end AND take the enemy down with you is the bravest winning there is.

Battle is a word I am not comfortable using. To me, it seems like you are giving cancer the power that will match/exceed your own will and resistance.
i can’t come up with a good word.....but I usually use challenge as I speak of my issues that cancer has created

I don't like the battle terminology at all, as well as sort of implying that people who are overwhelmed and not doing well aren't fighting hard enough it leaves out a whole lot of people who choose not to have further treatment.

Yes. The “lost the battle” phrase has always bugged me. Like it’s saying the cancer won out.

In an actual war, if a soldier gets in a situation where there is no way out, he/she is going to try and take the enemy with them. If the soldier is gonna die, then by God, the enemy will die too. The soldier gets the last word, so to speak.

It's a fascinating and comforting way to look at the heroic manner in which so many we love face what comes to us all by some manner or other.