At 59, Mrs. C. was terminally ill. She lay in the hospital near death. A year and a half before her present hospitalization, Mrs. C. had been found to have an adenocarcinoma of the colon. An abdominal perineal resection was performed and a colostomy done, and Mrs. C. seemed to have been doing well. At first, she said, she had thought she would never be able to adjust to the colostomy. But as time passed she had become used to it, although she did not tell her friends or co-workers the nature of her operation and was always a little ashamed of it. She was not in contact with a colostomy club and did not know anyone else with a colostomy. Unfortunately, however, the cancer had spread through the portal system, causing the liver to become greatly enlarged, nodular, and obstructive. In the past two months, her condition had become worse, both her legs became swollen, and she was admitted to the hospital. She exhibited the cachexia of cancer and was bedridden, the disease having involved the sacral plexus, causing pain and hypesthesia. She could not stand, and could rarely bear even sitting. Her situation now seemed to be a