The other day a dear friend referred to me as a cancer survivor, and I realized that I'm not very comfortable with this term. That's partly because I'm not comfortable being defined by cancer. As comedian and comedy writer Irwin Barker says "I have cancer but cancer doesn't have me." As we all have, I've survived lots of things; growing up on the River Road, a 4,500 km. trip across the country in the Isuzu with Harvey, the dog and 2 aged cats, my own cooking the years I lived by myself, etc.
And while I know for a lot of people the term cancer survivor is one they feel very positive about using, it doesn't seem to fit my experience. Being still (again) in treatment for a cancer that was Stage 4 when diagnosed, as my oncologist says "at some point it will be life threatening." We're working on making that point as far away as possible - but none of us will get out of here alive!
Wendy
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Wendy I want to thank you for your profound insight into the use of the term "survivor". It is a word that feels strange in my mouth now, as you said it is not just disease but the dis-ease of life that we all experience on our life journey. Much love Yoga Debbie. Have a happy and healthy holiday!
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