Remote patrol

Jerome Groopman is best-known for his AIDS research, but more remarkable may be the spiritual journeys he has taken with his dying patients. He has written a book, The Meaning of Our Days, recounting eight such patients, and tonight on "Dateline NBC" (9, Channel 41) we meet two more: Gene, who has AIDS, and Elizabeth, with breast cancer. Over the course of two years "Dateline" checked in with Gene, Elizabeth and their doctor, and asked how they felt about their life and the possibility of death. The subject matter is tough, but these three people make it somehow inspiring. They are candid and thoughtful, and although each expresses their faith differently, they believe. When asked her greatest fear, Elizabeth says, "I'd be afraid to die cut off from God." But then she says, "Even if my faith failed at the end, I'd trust in his mercy."