Without having been in the situation yourself, it's impossible to know how you'd react after being handed a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis, especially one that would become incurable.
Anger, heartbreak, and denial are three emotions you'd naturally associate with the news. However, for one woman, who was extremely honest about her own situation, it was a desire to live her life to the fullest before her passing.
And for Molly Kochan, that involved splitting up with her husband of over 15 years, in what was described as a 'loveless marriage', only to go on and sleep with around 200 men before her passing. Naturally, you would think this would lead to even more health risks, but Molly didn't care.
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This would inspire a memoir, a popular podcast, Dying For Sex, alongside her best friend Nikki Boyer, and most recently a Disney+ TV series about her erotic exploits.
She would later pass away in March 2019, but it seems clear that the 45-year-old was left with no regrets, and she was able to leave a legacy of sexual liberation behind her.
Shortly before her passing, Molly posted a final update about her acceptance that she was unlikely to survive the cancer, and her time left on Earth would not be spent in misery.
She wrote: "As I come to accept my own death and as my attachment to this life gets less intense, the bonds I have with my body, my moments and paradoxically even to this life get stronger. I feel more plugged into it but less concerned with outcomes. The grand outcome is the same no matter what path I travel.
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"There are still things I desire before I drop this body. I’m not above vanity or wanting to feel liked and successful. I have moments driven by Facebook or Instagram likes. That’s all part of being a person today. There are a handful of experiences I hope to have before I die. But when I think of what those experiences are, beating cancer is not on that list."
Molly prompts an interesting discussion of morality and what it means to be human, suggesting that she will enjoy her mortal body while she still has it, which she hopefully did when sleeping with all those blokes.
She concludes: "I would love nothing more than to no longer have evidence of this disease in my body. I would give anything to have an easier path to the end and to be able to meter any future loss. But those things seem like empty focuses and nothing more than wishes or prayers. Because they are totally out of my control.
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"What is in my control is how I put one foot in front of the other towards the goals I have, how I take in each footstep, how I acknowledge the people around me at any given time. And, of course, keeping my medical appointments and continuing to make the best health decisions with the information I have. The rest of it – whether I reach my desired goals or 'beat' this disease – well that’s that stuff of surrender."
This would be her last post before a pre-written article saying 'I have died' went live shortly after she passed away.
James Moorhouse