Read on Twitter
You know what battle I have lost?
Asking people to stop describing somebody who dies of cancer as having "lost their battle."
Asking people to stop describing somebody who dies of cancer as having "lost their battle."
Yesterday was what would have been my brother's 50th birthday. He died over a decade ago from cancer. For years, it made me so angry to hear the "battle" language. It is a terrible frame. I believe it contributes to overtreatment and rejection of palliative and hospice care.
Then, less than a year later, I was diagnosed with cancer. His had been a rare cancer, what oncs call an "orphan disease," meaning treatments were best-guesses.
Mine had been uncurable, but I was diagnosed on the heels of a recent breakthrough that turned that prognosis around.
Mine had been uncurable, but I was diagnosed on the heels of a recent breakthrough that turned that prognosis around.
I deeply hate the notion that he "lost" and I "beat cancer." We both used the best tools available to us. I was just luckier with my timing in relation to science.
I get it. People love that metaphor. After over 10 years, I am mostly letting it slide.
But something about yesterday made me want to rant about it one more time.
But something about yesterday made me want to rant about it one more time.
