March 20, 2014

The Rhetoric of Cancer: Live with it

              In the Documentary of the Rhetoric of Cancer with Andrew Graystone, He defines what his rhetoric on cancer is. It is in contrast with the usual way of cancer in which we define cancer as the “enemy”, a “monster”. With these set in mind, we would say that those who have cancer are “battling” it. Andrew Graystone’s rhetoric on cancer is to live with cancer and accept these cancer cells like your own body. It’s been a norm that people comforting cancer patients by encouraging them to be brave, to win the battle and to survive.

               I would see two sides of a coin. The first would be fighting against cancer. The second would be living alongside cancer. The former, as I interpreted Andrew’s words, was something similar to personal struggles. It is something that you do against yourself. You would fight yourself and living like that is something anyone would not enjoy and it would mean struggling though life. As others say “You are living the life if you are having fun”, Struggling through life’s the opposite.

               However, that is not the only way we can speak of cancer and how to deal with it. The latter as the main topic of the podcast was something optimistic. It is living with what cancer is defined as an “enemy”. With this in mind, people with cancer would just happily live their lives with cancer, not wasting any moment on struggling against one’s self. Normal people are fortunate that they have all the time in the world to enjoy life and to have fun. I cannot say that people with cancer have a time limit, however with their condition, it is hard to enjoy life and we cannot say when we are about to die. Personally, I have met people who have cancer and I see them still smiling and enjoy their lives to the fullest. I know all of us would want to live life without having regrets. The biggest regret I could think of is not enjoying life. As I speak for those people with cancer, I would impose a message to live life as yourself, and not against yourself.


               Just live life with it.

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