> they just say; he/she died of X That's what my sneaking suspicion was. I recall having heard expressions like "after a long battle with illness", but your po

> they just say; he/she died of X That's what my sneaking suspicion was. I recall having heard expressions like "after a long battle with illness", but your point makes a lot of sense. Actually, I realise there's no mention of losing in that expression, which was made clear to me after finding this article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-brody-fleet/long-term-illness_b_2051071.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-brody-fleet/long-term-i... after searching Google for the above phrase.