Reaction on The Rhetoric of Cancer

BBC World Service produced a podcast entitled The Rhetoric of Cancer. It is about Andrew Graystone, a cancer patient for three years, who questions the language used describing a cancer journey of a patient. He said that cancer patients tend to say that they need to fight cancer which is an example of a military metaphor. Andrew Graystone’s perception on this is we look at cancer as our enemy, medical experts as heroes and treatments as search and destroy which is inappropriate for him. He explained that if cancer is an enemy, he has to battle something inside him. And he did not want to be labelled as someone who lost the battle against cancer once he died.

Since Andrew Graystone is not comfortable with the language used for cancer, he made research for the appropriate language. His language went far as visiting different cancer institutions and discussing with different medical professionals. He also had a meeting with a priest and a writer with leukaemia. This is how eager he is to change the language used pertaining to cancer.

Personally, I agree with him. How will you able to get out of cancer if it is within you and need to battle with it? If you consider cancer as an enemy, you will hate yourself in the process. And there will come a time that cancer will not be your only enemy but also yourself. I do not have any suggestion on what appropriate language to use. But I am also against on using military metaphors.

Princess Rosales

2009-11842