Fifty years ago, doctors did not tell their patients they had cancer. Improved patient-physician communication, feminization of the medical profession and increased patient empowerment may have improved matters. However, death is still a subject many doctors find difficult to deal with. We explore this issue in the context of medical humanities. In order to examine the different strategies in coping with illness and death, we compared illness perceptions in a literary text, W;t by Margaret Edson, about a woman who dies of ovarian cancer, with a personal narrative of a patient with ovarian cancer. Although there are many differences between the two patients in historical and cultural background, similarities were found in the way they cope with illness and death anxiety. Insight into illness perceptions and coping strategies of patients with cancer is important for raising awareness in clinicians, leading to improved understanding and better treatment of patients.