I hate the term "cancer survivor!"

have2believe said:

terms are funny
I've heard that people also get annoyed by the term "battle," especially if someone passed on because of the disease....like in an obit that states that a loved one lost his or her battle with cancer. For some, it sounds like if they didn't "fight" hard enough.

How do you know when you
How do you know when you "survived" it? 5, 10, 20 yrs till you die of another cause?

I am ok with survivor. That
I am ok with survivor. That is what I tell people that I am a cancer survivor. Every day I get out of bed I am a survivor of cancer. It is my way of slapping cancer in the face.

I like survivor, it took me
I like survivor, it took me a while until I felt like one. I often wondered when I first started the cancer journey, when do you become a survivor? For me it was not the 1st day of diagnosis, but rather getting to that 1st 3 month checkup and being told I was still fine. I feel like I had to earn survivor and I am fine with that, it feels pretty damn good.

PhillieG said:

Words
What it boils down to is whatever helps one get through this "party" called cancer is great.
I'm not a big fan of Survivor, Victim, Patient.
I'm a person with cancer but that works for me. I can see the appeal of Survivor because its a hell of a thing to go through and when you do get through it, it is a survival journey. I'm really not a fan of the word HATE. It's overused (IMO) and has lost its impact. "I hate brocolli", "I hate Mondays".
Too much hate in the world.
Just my opinion, I'm sure someone would like to press


:-)

Phil
Did you know when you click on the hate button your sent to an expressions page with food on it. lol

Cancer Survivor
I hate the term, but only because it has the word "cancer", which well, is a whole story in itself. But I am a survivor...so far. And survivor fits, I survived being told I had cancer without having a heart attack at the fear of the word. I survived being divorced so that my ex wouldn't lose everything he worked so hard for in his life, I'm surviving his alcoholism, (well so far, it's crying time again, 1:00 pm and he's out of it on a daily basis, I spend a lot of time picking him up off the ground where ever he lands, and it ain't easy), I've survived surgery that I thought would kill me. So, yeah, to heck with it, I'll take survivor, because so far, that's what I've been doing, surviving, with a little bit of living tossed in (grandchildren, school, children) so I'll take what I can get and be happy for the sunshine tossing a kiss on my face every morning, or even the sound of rain pounding on the roof, all letting me know I made it another day.
Winter Marie

herdizziness said:

Cancer Survivor
I hate the term, but only because it has the word "cancer", which well, is a whole story in itself. But I am a survivor...so far. And survivor fits, I survived being told I had cancer without having a heart attack at the fear of the word. I survived being divorced so that my ex wouldn't lose everything he worked so hard for in his life, I'm surviving his alcoholism, (well so far, it's crying time again, 1:00 pm and he's out of it on a daily basis, I spend a lot of time picking him up off the ground where ever he lands, and it ain't easy), I've survived surgery that I thought would kill me. So, yeah, to heck with it, I'll take survivor, because so far, that's what I've been doing, surviving, with a little bit of living tossed in (grandchildren, school, children) so I'll take what I can get and be happy for the sunshine tossing a kiss on my face every morning, or even the sound of rain pounding on the roof, all letting me know I made it another day.
Winter Marie

Survivor... I like it.
Fighting cancer is one of the hardest things to do in the world. You are taking hits from the fear, the disease, the side effects, the surgeries. No other word for me quite says it like survivor because this is a war, a battle... I have the scars to prove it.

I AM A SURVIVOR and very proud of it.

Definition of SURVIVE
intransitive verb
1: to remain alive or in existence : live on
2: to continue to function or prosper

abackhou said:

I am just a normal human
I am just a normal human being who happens to have a terminal illness and doing the best to make the most of my limited life.

Cheers Andrew

survivor
I do not mind the term survivor at all. The term that I dislike is The big C.

Now this is just a personal dislike....no reflection on anyone else here. to me the BIG C sounds more powerful than saying the word cancer. It feels coy to me as if my friend could not say....soooooo she has cancer.....
but I also believe in the power some words have. When my daughter was small I would deliberately slip in a four letter word now and then....just to demystify them and take away their potential power to shock.

just sayin

maggie

Funny what cancer makes you think of
I too do not like "survior". I am at chem 5 of 12 for stage 3 colon cancer, had the surgery in Jan. I am truely blessed that I had no mets. My pet-peeve is I do not capitalize the word cancer. I feel if it is capital it is given more strenth. I know I am stronger. I know it is a tiny thing but it really bothers me.
You'll find what you like and use it - it continues to give you strenth.
It's nice to see other csn people have the same pet-peeves I do. Thought I was the only one.

abackhou said:

I am just a normal human
I am just a normal human being who happens to have a terminal illness and doing the best to make the most of my limited life.

Cheers Andrew

abackhou
All people have a terminal illness. It is called life! We survivors prove cancer is not a death sentence. Yea make the most of whatever time we have before going to heaven!!!