I’m dying of brain cancer. I prepared to end my life. Then I kept living.

In April 2015, at the age of 55, I was diagnosed with one of the most lethal and aggressive brain tumors, a brainstem glioblastoma multiforme in an advanced stage. The prognosis was both grim and precise: Without treatment, I might have a few months; with treatment, I could last six months. If I beat overwhelming odds, I’d toast the new year one last time.

During the time my doctors were converging on my diagnosis, interest was building here in California for a law, called “aid in dying,” that would allow physicians to help patients end their lives. The effort had received a significant boost from the publicity around Brittany Maynard , a 29-year-old woman who had a prognosis similar to mine. She ended her life in 2014, before any legislative action in California, by relocating to Oregon, establishing residency and taking advantage of the Death With Dignity law there. Before that, she used her time to become a reasonable, driven and passionate advocate for right-to-die laws. Perhaps affected by her powerful advocacy, the California legislature passed the aid-in-dying law and Gov. Jerry Brown signed it on Oct. 5, 2015, early in the window of my expected demise.

I did not spend any time navigating the five stages of grief. I decided on treatment, which would be followed by palliative care and, soon, hospice. I quickly knew — it could hardly be called a decision — that I would not allow the cancer to force an awful ending on my family and me.