By contrast, her own life was exceptionally austere. She did not smoke or drink alcohol, ate sparingly, and attended few private parties. At major official events, she was always at the side of Per�n on the balcony of the Casa Rosada. Although her illness, uterine cancer, was first diagnosed in 1950, she chose not to have an operation at that time because she had too much to do. One senses that Evita was acutely aware that she had little time left to complete what she saw as her mission, and it drove her to work herself even harder.
While it is unlikely that her illness influenced her refusal of the candidacy for vice-president, this episode still needs to be studied and clarified. Her candidacy had been proposed for some time, backed by the labor unions, and she had made no objection to it. In a memorable dialogue with an exceptionally large crowd in August 1951, she tried to proclaim her withdrawal from �the honor, but not the fight.� It was rejected by acclamation. The crowd in the square below was electrified at the sound of her voice over the loudspeakers and, as was often the case, her speech turned into a dialogue, with a shouted chorus of responses from the multitude. She asked for time to decide. Four days (�No!�), one day (�No!�), two hours (�No! Now!�). Her communication with the people reached an unprecedented intensity; even Per�n must have been astounded by that night. A few days later, she announced her official withdrawal on the radio.
Confined by illness to the Presidential Residence, which she left less and less often, on May 1, 1952, she spoke for the last time from the balcony of the Casa Rosada. In sharp contrast to her wasted body, her speech on this occasion was the most combative she had ever given. The end was near and it had only made her more impassioned. �I will go with the working people, I will go with the women of the country, I will go with the descamisados (the �shirtless� poor) of our nation, dead or alive, to make sure that the only bricks left standing are Per�nist!�