Inroads are being made all the time in the battle against cancer. Tuesday's announcement of a $3 million investment by the provincial government in an innovative treatment trial for personalized care based on a person's genetic makeup is the latest positive news. While there likely never will be a magic bullet cure for cancer, reducing the number of deaths and the amount of suffering caused by this terrible disease is a noble cause.
The innovation isn't just happening with research and treatment.
Lynda Robinson is setting up a local breast cancer support group as part of her broader efforts to increase acceptance, both by female cancer survivors and by broader society, for women who choose to remain "flat and fabulous" after having one or both of their breasts surgically removed as part of their treatment. These kinds of efforts bring the mental anguish caused by breast cancer out of the shadows where they have resided for too long.
While Robinson should be applauded for her efforts and all cancer sufferers and survivors should be able to speak openly about their experiences, exercising that right should still remain up to the individual. As a Canadian Press story points out (see page 25 of today's print edition), some are comfortable with being open about their cancer journey while others would prefer to keep their illness as private as possible.
David Bowie chose to restrict knowledge of his cancer diagnosis to his family and close friends. The article goes on to mention celebrities who suffered and died of cancer in the public spotlight while others who decided to keep their illness from even their siblings.
There is no right or wrong way to be sick, to have cancer or to succumb to disease, which is what makes it such a personal decision on who to tell, what to tell and when to tell. In the end, everyone in those difficult circumstances are looking for the same thing - dignity and control.
For some, that's through privacy and wanting to be remembered as lively and vibrant, to not be defined by the weakness and pain of their final days, to not to have to endure the empty platitudes of pity. They don't want to make others uncomfortable, particularly their friends who are used to seeing them healthy and happy.
This is not a selfish or insensitive approach.
Even the most well-meaning of individuals, including even those who work in the health care field, instinctively withdraw from those who are sick. That's the reaction of the animal part of our brain, equating the proximity of illness with the threat it poses to our own well-being. Doctors and nurses have to be trained to override this instinct and run towards the sick in an effort to treat them, just like police officers and firefighters have to be taught to go towards danger, not flee from it, to restore safety and order.
Whether it's cancer or the common cold, there are many who prefer their suffering in silence or at least quiet, alone or with as few witnesses present as possible.
This is not a rejection of their loved ones but rather a declaration of love. Even in their time of suffering and dying, they would prefer their friends and family to be busy living their lives rather than being forced to watch the painful decay and demise of someone who means so much.
It's also a declaration of independence. Someone like Bowie defined his artistic career by choosing his own direction and the public persona he would adopt. He insisted on departing the world as an artist, releasing his last album just a few days before his passing. The music from it is as odd and unique and wonderful as the rest of his work, a life-affirming statement that the music and the performance, far more meaningful and permanent than disease and death, would continue to his last breath and beyond. Check out the videos for Lazarus and Blackstar on his website for proof.
With each breath, we're one more closer to our last.
What a liberating thought.
Living well, whether as a researcher in pursuit of a cure for cancer, as a survivor wanting to help others or as an artist with a burning vision, is the only way to live, whatever personas we wear and passions we pursue.
