Is It That Different Now?
I’m picking up a new vibe in cancer world. An attitude shift toward the beast that is redefining how some patients grasp what it means to have cancer.
Maybe this belongs to the younger cancer victim who, just like our society as a whole, sees cancer as so 20-seconds ago.
Two very good friends, who are in the midst of chemotherapy; one who has lost her hair, is wearing a wig and is tolerating the chemo remarkably well and the other who is just starting her chemo treatment and is feeling its effects harshly….both are, as the saying goes, “so over this cancer thing.” In fact that’s exactly what one of them said the other day. She added “I’m so bored with it.”
When I read that in an email, I was stunned. I chuckled, but then I thought, WOW, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that about cancer before.
Is it a good idea to be so indifferent about cancer?
In one way, I guess you could say, you don’t want it to define you. It needs to be treated but it won’t control who you are or how you live your life. But you can’t really treat it like it’s some kind of an annoyance either. It’s serious business.
But maybe this shift follows the way some cancers are being viewed by the medical community these days too. Some cancers are being treated like a chronic disease rather than a life threatening one and I guess that does change the way a person looks at their cancer fight.
But no-way, no-how, is cancer so 20-seconds ago. No-way
March 29, 2012 @ 8:29 pm
I wish cancer was the kind of thing that we could have a cavalier attitude about but it is just not! I have a feeling that under the flippant remarks lies a very scared person. They need to know it’s ok to be scared of this beast but also to know there are people who want to share their fears and talk about it until they are blue in the face. It cannot be ignored…the proverbial elephant in the room.
March 28, 2012 @ 1:40 pm
I have experienced two types of cancer – one that is curable and apparently has been cured and another that is treatable, but incurable. (To cope with that, I have decided to consider the second one to be chronic.)
I hope that this younger patient was merely letting off steam, but I can relate to the statement in a way. When you have to go to the hospital each weekday for 6-8 weeks for radiation therapy, it can get “old” and you cannot wait until you’ve completed your sessions – but you go to each and every one. When you have to take pills over a period of years (especially chemo) and/or quarterly infusions, you look forward to being done with the regimen – but you take the pills according to instructions and show up for each infusion. None of it is negotiable in my book.
My hope for this patient – and any impatient patient – is that they let off steam as needed because that is certainly necessary and allowed, but KEEP TO THE REGIMEN and/or FOLLOW THE MD’S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE LETTER.
My advice is that they take some time to remember that their families and friends are also affected by their illness and need them to keep fighting – whether “over it” or not.
And I hope both of these “kids” (compared to me) all the best.
March 27, 2012 @ 7:56 pm
Before we succumb to the younger generation’s view of the world and especially the cancer world, let’s get a breath. No matter the “hip” view as dismissive as it is, it is not real nor the reality that so many of them will face. It may be so cool to say “Yes I have cancer but so what?” Sorry but my reaction is not a kind one so I’ll refrain from commenting.
If these young people could read the blogs I read about so many young ones fighting for their lives, perhaps reality would descend upon them and a wake up call would go off. I read about an older sister who has given her all for her younger sister who has leukemia…the bone marrow transplant didn’t work, and now the guilt that she feels because it was supposed to work. Flippant and trivial it is not! I guess I can cut them some slack, they are just teenagers and their view of the real world is so far from being real. If they use this as a method to cope, I will apologize to them but don’t make this about being cool. It is not cool. It is serious, very serious because it has life altering consequences. Enjoy the moments..your bald heads, perhaps some stick-on tattoos for your bald heads. But please understand that there are many, so many little ones who are too young to understand their fight, their illness and why they feel so bad. Please know also that some of them will lose their fight and their lives. Levity and humor have a place in the cancer world but it should never be trivialized or made to be insignificant. Too many are dying each day when they have given their all.
Cancer as a chronic disease!!! I would hope that it can be true some day. For some of us, I guess one could say we are living with the disease and that is true. Some people I know are like me and surviving for years beyond all reason. Maybe we are in the chronic phase but I feel as if it is only a brief pause before the fight begins again….perhaps this is the definition of chronic. The one thing that really sets off my alarms is to hear a doctor say…”Let’s wait until you have symptoms before doing this or that test.” Duh…then it is most often too late, dummy! We are much too early in the fight to declare that “we now have a chronic disease and we know how to maintain.”