You never really know what to say

There are so many claims nowadays of how this or that can cause cancer. Food, drink, tobacco, gadget radiation, pollutants, even the sun! [1] Each year, scientists discover more and more carcinogens, making people even more prone to such a sickness. Statistics show that the number of cancer cases is expected to increase by 36% by 2025. [2]

Learning about the causes of cancer is truly a blessing, as it helps people take care of themselves in order to prevent the risks of cancer. However, scientists have proven that it may even be genetic, depending on the history of family illness. This is even worse because it seems as if this illness is inevitable for some people.

When you find out that someone has cancer, you never really know what to say. “Stay strong”, “Continue to fight”, “You’ll survive the battle”. These things may be helpful, but as Andrew in BBC’s The Rhetoric of Cancer puts it, why does the language have to resemble that of a war? What if the person isn’t strong to begin with, what if the person isn’t ready for the battle, does that mean he’s already lost?

However, people can’t help but say these words, as cancer is truly a challenge that resembles a battle - the body with the illness, where you do everything to survive. Saying it to someone is a way of telling that person “You are in a battle, but I am here, ready to be a part of your troop.” When someone says this, it’s in the hopes that the person feels that he is not alone.

However we may talk to patients diagnosed with cancer, I am sure though that there is a proper way to address those who have died because of it. We should not refer to these people as those who have “lost the battle”, as if saying that the illness beat them, that they were not strong enough to win, that they just gave up and allowed the cancer to triumph. Because from the beginning, it was never really in their hands, and despite them not surviving, this does not discount the fact that they gave it their all.

[1] What Causes Cancer?. (n.d.). What causes cancer. Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses

[2] Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Ervik M, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, Parkin DM, Forman D, Bray, F. GLOBOCAN 2012 v1.0, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: IARC CancerBase No. 11 [Internet]. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://globocan.iarc.fr

Reaction paper for The Rhetoric of Cancer