Rhetoric of Concer

When we think cancer, we automatically see it as a negative thing and that's only natural since it IS a disease and has claimed numerous lives after all. And the way people usually handle conversations regarding the disease, as Andrew Graystone has stated in the podcast, is by using military metaphors and treating it as an enemy to be fought by the patients. People always say, "Oh you can do this.", "Be brave.", "Stay strong and you'll get through this.", "You can fight this." We always view the situation of having cancer as being in some sort of war against the disease and when people do succumb to it, the general conclusion is that they have "lost the battle".

I think how cancer has been handled by our culture all these years is the reason why we see it as an enemy or some sort of invading force that's meant to be fought. But as Andrew Graystone says, the cancer cells are a part of him, like the cells are just another part of his body. He doesn't necessarily have to like these cells but he believes that he has to learn to live with them since he doesn't want his body to be a battleground for some sort of civil war between him and his body. I understand his views on how we should see cancer, to be at peace with the reality of having it. But I for one have no problem seeing it as something that SHOULD be fought. From all the cancer stories I've heard so far, there is clearly a struggle, an effort to "beat" the disease not only by the patient but by their friends and family as well. I firmly believe that for any situation, if you have a fighting chance, you never give up. You keep going. If being at peace with your current predicament help you, then by all means, heed Graystone’s advice.