We Are All Survivors, If Only for a While

Those of us still lucky enough to call this Earth home have all survived something that 50 or 100 years ago would have killed us: childbirth, for instance, or workplace accidents, infections and diseases. And most of us have survived any number of challenges and losses: deaths, illnesses, jobs, loves. Many of the relationships and activities that we love do, at some time, come to an end. Some of us will survive because we have endured great harm and abuse.
When we see and name ourselves as survivors, we feel that we are somehow still masters—that challenges formed us, but did not claim or shape us. Survivorship reflects our most admirable qualities: strengths and resilience, resourcefulness and ability to stand and stay strong.
Every October, while we celebrate another month of raising awareness of breast cancer (as pink festoons everything from pickle jars to football gloves, until we yearn to shrug it off or dye it black) we rejoice with those who have endured this disease and emerged, still standing and alive.
In the course of honoring survivors, we can sometimes not see that they continue to struggle with disease and its consequences, from ongoing testing and treatments, to the emotional and financial costs of living with chronic illness. And for those women who have metastatic breast cancer, the only real finish line, sometimes after many years, is death. The Metastatic Breast Cancer Network reports that as many as 155,000 Americans live with the disease, which kills 4...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - October 15, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Cancer Source Type: blogs