Cancer language

I recently read about more offensive language of cancer. Where do people get these ideas?

I know then President Nixon declared a war on cancer in the early 1970s. Fine, have your war on cancer but sending in armies of scientists and doctors to research it to death and kill it off. But the people with cancer? We are not at war, we just want to stay alive.

I really dislike the S-word. Why? Because its a label. I am a person; I am not a label. You can describe me by saying words like short, slightly flabby, or something else, or even smart or other nice words. You can even say slightly cranky or pushy or assertive. You can also say I am a patient and a frequent flier at my local hospital. But I am not a survivor. All I have survived is a billion or so doctor's appointments and medical misadventures. Okay, you can say I have survived driving in metropolitan Boston for the last few decades. Sometimes that's a daily demolition derby.

I didn't survive cancer. With cancer, you can achieve remission, partial remission, or have NED (No Evidence of Disease) status (which is me currently). But you are never told you are cured. If you are told you are cured your doctor must be stupid a miracle worker because there is no cure for cancer. Well okay, there are a few cancers that can be cured but definitely not all. You will spend the rest of your life being 'best buds' with your oncologist, endocrinologist, or so other specialist.

Now the CDC in its infinite wisdom as a part of our government has launched a new program called Bring Your Brave, which is a breast cancer awareness program for young women. Really? I find it almost as offensive as the boobies programs that are out there. Bring my brave what? My brave face - the one I wear when my doctor is about to give me bad news or I am heading off for another surgery? My brave suit of armor when I have to deal with a bunch of nitwits somewhere?

And why does it only focus on breast cancer? It would be much better to have a cancer awareness program for all types of cancer for younger adults. Most do not expect to be diagnosed with cancer and have their world upside down.

For any other ailment, you are a patient or a person. This patient has a complication with their cardiac surgery. Or 'this person has an ulcer', or 'congestive heart failure', or 'strep throat'. Why can't we say this patient has stage III pancreatic cancer? Why does it have to be 'this person is fighting metastatic brain cancer' or  this patient is a breast cancer survivor'?

These war words are the obscenities of the cancer world. Fix your vocabulary people! Thank you. 

Young adults and cancer

I read an article on the Atlantic about the plight of young cancer patients. First of all, please do not use the word 'plight'. A plight is defined as: a condition, state, or situation, especially an unfavorable or unfortunate one. To me its another one of those sneaky, snarky labels with negative overtones. And the article also calls them survivors which is not my favorite term as well. A double negative for me.

Yes, life sucks after a cancer diagnosis. Particularly if you are younger and there are no others around with cancer to help you cope. I was one of them and I do not think that I had a plight. I had a life to live and figure out.

After cancer at any age, you are left with a mangled body, soul, and finances. I was luckier than most as my cancer did not require chemotherapy at age 19. My finances were covered through my parents' health insurance but I had the body and soul of a cancer patient.

Well back to the article. I did like it. I did like the information provided about the issues a young cancer patient is left with. If some one at age 20 is diagnosed with cancer, in addition to everything else, they are left with deciding what to do with their future. Maybe they were in college and were planning a career, now they have to decided can they finish their studies as previously planned and then go on with their career.

What about dating and children? Would a potential partner be turned off by their scars and medical history? Are they now damaged goods in the dating world? If you are diagnosed at age 60 which is somewhere closer to the average age at diagnosis for most, dating and children are no longer an issue.

And finances - take your average post college debt and add on top of that medical bills. Where does that leave the young adult with cancer starting their life after cancer?

Finally, how do you repair the damaged soul of a cancer patient? I can tell you it can take a very long time before you want to open up and talk about your medical crap with anyone - even a therapist. Healing is difficult, long term, and deeply scarring.

So next time you see a teenager or 20 something at the oncologists office, think about what they are going through and where they are starting the rest of their life. How do they get a to a new normal for their adulthood if they never had one in the first place?

World Cancer Day

Today, February 4, is World Cancer Day. The target of the day is to Debunk the Myths surrounding cancer.

World Cancer day started a few years back. They presented signatures to the United Nations in 2011 with the goal by 2025 of:

There will be major reductions in premature deaths from cancer, and improvements in quality of life and cancer survival rates.

I like their way of thinking. They set up a list of targets and this year is to Debunk the Myths. You can go to their website and see more details on the myths and their other targets.

To show your support for this day, if you had cancer you are supposed to wear purple. Hmmm.... Isn't that labelling? I hate labels. I am not the S-word. But I want to show my support.

Today I am taking a family member to chemotherapy so will be hanging out in the oncology department. How much purple will be there?

My compromise is a purple patterned shirt and purple undergarments. Am I a weenie? I'm not sure. I just hate the labels.

I digress. Today is World Cancer Day.  Show your support by learning more about it and seeing what you can do to help.