I'm going to be a bit morbid here, but of all the diseases or mechanical ways to die, which would be your LAST CHOICE if given a preference. Dead last, so to speak.
I think fire is by far worse. Every single nerve ending is sending pain signals until your nerves eventually burn away. You'll be suffocating at the same time in the smoke of your own burning flesh. Fucking awful way to die..
Interesting. This describes my experience pretty well, up to the point where I couldn't hold my breath any longer and took an involuntary lungful of water. However, while the chest spasms and all the rest of it were uncomfortable, I didn't consider it painful, per se. I was a strong swimmer at the time and accustomed to holding my breath to my limits of endurance, so maybe that made the difference.