Yes, technically I am a patient, since I am undergoing treatment for a chronic disease. But the word "patient" conjures up antiseptic hospital rooms and off-the rack backless gowns. This just does not speak to me.
The definitions of survivor make my skin crawl. ...remaining alive after...others have died. True, to some extent, for some. ...copes well with difficulties in life. Coping is relative. Coping well is purely subjective. Ironically, it is the public expectation that persons with cancer do nothing but cope well. No one likes a poorly or misbehaved person dealing with cancer. They don't make good poster icons for fundraisers. I can't fit myself into the paradigm of survivor.
Victim resonates: tricked, duped, offered up as a sacrifice to the pink industry. But victimization also requires a certain acquiescence. I will not go down that path.
We need another label, or better yet ... no label at all.
pa·tient
noun /pey-shuh nt]
1. A person who is under medical care or treatment.
2. A person or thing that undergoes some action.
3. Archaic ~ A sufferer or victim.
ʃənt
sur·vi·vor
noun /sərˈvīvər/
vic·tim
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TC, I don't like all the cancer labels either. And there seem to be so many of them! I avoid most whenever I can. Guess you do too!
ReplyDeleteNancy ~ labels are monikers we put onto others so we can comfortably fit them into our own psyche. That said, I truly am concerned by the pink-marketeers...case in point your blog on feminism and breast cancer.
ReplyDeleteThank you! ~ TC