The Eyes of Cancer
I have come to observe that in American society we shy away from talking about difficult issues. This is especially true when we broach the topic of life-threatening illnesses, people are often at a loss as to how to react. Recently in class, we have been learning about the stigmatization and narrative of various diseases.
We as people enjoy and relate to stories because they have a way of drawing us into a person's experience. While statistics, facts, and data repel and instill fear. Releasing stories, putting a human face to an illness changes our perception. My grandfather has leukemia, a frightening diagnosis to many, but I have seen the lifesaving effects of the medication he takes and the full life he leads because of these advances in treatments. In Four Reincarnations, Max Ritvo's poems grief and angst are present as his imagination jumps between pain and serenity. Ritvo's willingness to lay bare his interiority illuminates a subject that is relegated in the darkness. Having this creative outlet of telling stories helps us humanize and understand diseases similar to cancer.
The media plays a vital role in informing the public about new developments concerning cancer research. The platform possesses the power to molds our impressions and perceptions of certain diseases either stigmatizing or properly educating. The goal is to increase the awareness of others about the experience of the patient so as to be more effective in supporting them and to increase public awareness so as to extract the fear that dominates ones approach to those afflicted. The secrecy that shrouds this disease and others is fueled by fear which comes from lack of information. Sharing one's story demystifies it.
Have you had the experience of being close to someone suffering from a life-threatening illness? How did you respond to them? Did knowing them make you feel differently about the disease? How can sharing one's story influence the culture of disease? In what ways can you imagine the media being an effective vehicle to change the narratives of diseases?
We as people enjoy and relate to stories because they have a way of drawing us into a person's experience. While statistics, facts, and data repel and instill fear. Releasing stories, putting a human face to an illness changes our perception. My grandfather has leukemia, a frightening diagnosis to many, but I have seen the lifesaving effects of the medication he takes and the full life he leads because of these advances in treatments. In Four Reincarnations, Max Ritvo's poems grief and angst are present as his imagination jumps between pain and serenity. Ritvo's willingness to lay bare his interiority illuminates a subject that is relegated in the darkness. Having this creative outlet of telling stories helps us humanize and understand diseases similar to cancer.
The media plays a vital role in informing the public about new developments concerning cancer research. The platform possesses the power to molds our impressions and perceptions of certain diseases either stigmatizing or properly educating. The goal is to increase the awareness of others about the experience of the patient so as to be more effective in supporting them and to increase public awareness so as to extract the fear that dominates ones approach to those afflicted. The secrecy that shrouds this disease and others is fueled by fear which comes from lack of information. Sharing one's story demystifies it.
Have you had the experience of being close to someone suffering from a life-threatening illness? How did you respond to them? Did knowing them make you feel differently about the disease? How can sharing one's story influence the culture of disease? In what ways can you imagine the media being an effective vehicle to change the narratives of diseases?
I think the point about the media being such a powerful tool is really important to recognize. It has the potential to, like Harry said, properly educate us about people's experiences. I'm trying to think of shows/movies/any kind of media that does a good job of this...and I can't really think of anything. There always seems to be some kind of romanization of illness, no matter what the illness is, and I'm curious as to why disease always seems to be represented as extremes: super scary or romanized. Why never any in between?
ReplyDeleteIn terms of a personal connection, about a year-ish ago my family friend/rabbi was diagnosed with a really rare type of cancer that required a bunch of intense, sort of almost violent treatment. She's been able to completely recover and is doing great now but it was a really overwhelming period for my family and a lot of people in my community because she is such an important person in so many people's lives. And while she was undergoing treatment her husband (who is an artist) did this whole project where he talked to and photographed people going through cancer treatments and eventually made a play about his experience. This just sort of got me thinking about the ways people cope with these sorts of things and how there is a lot to gain from sharing stories, both with people going through similar things and even those who aren't.
The first person to come to mind when I think about someone close to me with a disease would be my grandfather, who passed away a few years ago with Parkinson’s. I think that it definitely makes a difference to know someone with any disease at all because it normalizes it and makes you realize that such things can happen to really anyone. I think that our society is getting better in general at it, but there are certain diseases that many people automatically say “I’ll never get that so I don’t have to worry about it,” which is not always the case - I think that we need to get better about educating ourselves on all possibilities and also normalize disease as just another thing in life.
ReplyDeleteI think that the media can definitely play an effective role in changing the discourse on disease - and can also certainly do the opposite. I remember when my grandfather was slowly batting Parkinson’s a song by Kanye West called On Sight came out which included the following line: “Soon as I pull up and park the Benz/ We get this bitch shaking like Parkinson's.” I remember immediately thinking the line was incredibly insensitive but also continued to listen to it, which shows the sort of complacency that many of us have in terms of what we stand up for. I try nowadays to not listen to the song at all.
I learned that my grandmother had passed away from breast cancer. I never met her, but I would constantly hear such amazing things about her from family and friends. With all the knowledge I gained about my grandma Rose, I felt like I knew her by extension. Now when detected early, breast cancer has a 100% survival rate. Now my grandmother, a Black woman with no health care living in the South side of Chicago in the 80s/90s, did not detect the cancer and unfortunately struggled with the cancer for a while before passing. I knew that perhaps if she were living today and had discovered she had cancer, there probably could have been more assistance towards her help from doctors who know what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteI remember that learning about her and her legacy created a connection between us, even though I had never met her. I remember always wearing my pink Nike elite socks during my October basketball games in 7th/8th grade to honor her and raise awareness around breast cancer. People would buy the socks to do the same, others would buy them for the clout, but I felt special with them on. I had a purpose. I had a connection. I had a reason. I wish I met my grandmother! (this is one of my wishes @NathanStogdill).
My aunt had breast cancer (she is in remission now), but that was most definitely a life changing experience for her and for our entire family; however we were with her for every step of it. We threw a party to celebrate her shaving her head, we all participated in the breast cancer walk, we made posters for her and visited her in the hospital, etc. I think breast cancer especially is such a widely talked about and supported cancer that it didn't feel as though there were any negative stigmas surrounding this disease. Seeing my aunt go through it definitely made me incredibly more sympathetic to those around me with various cancers. The biggest difference for me was that I no longer see people with cancers as weak. Although cancer physically make you weaker, my aunt was mentally strong. My grandma was also diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after my aunt, and I have never seen them so strong before; it was so inspiring.
ReplyDeleteMedia for sure helps change the narratives of diseases. Hearing people's stories without a doubt humanizes various diseases. This is slightly unrelated but I follow this instagram account called "we.define.beauty" and it posts the honest stories of different people to redefine how we see beauty, and the account is so inspiring and eye opening. People tell their stories about how they've dealt with and/or changed after childbirth, surgery, rape, depression, etc., and it's such an eyeopening account. I see and read about people who have dealt with self harm, for example, and how they have recovered from it, and it causes you to sympathize and see issues like this from a humanizing stand point. I also can relate to so many of the stories which allows me to release some of the shame I may feel towards myself. I think accounts like this one are so beneficial to society, unlike the rest of social media where people lead these seemingly perfect lives.
My family friend has smoked for the majority of her adult life. She was diagnosed with cancer 1 year ago, but luckily had a an improvement in her condition after taking a experimental drug. My perception of her definitely changed when I saw her smoking for the first time. I lost the feeling of respect for her because as a child I have always been told that smoking is bad. I felt more passionately about finding a cure for cancer after it was put into to perspective.
ReplyDeleteMy cousin suffers from depression and has a learning disability and my other cousin (brother and sister) has extreme anxiety to the point of her not being able to keep food down and being an unhealthy weight. While none of this is life-threatening (or the kind of life-threatening you may have been thinking of), my cousins suffer from mental illnesses (and in the case of my cousin with dyslexia, a learning disability) that ostracize and other them from their peers at school and other kids their age. My aunt and uncle (their mother/father) never really knew how to support my cousins growing up- for example, my cousin who suffers from depression on top of his dyslexia, struggles in a lot of social situations and whenever I go to visit them I always get this weird vibe of my uncle being ashamed of him– like when my cousin says something inappropriate or rude, my uncle either yells at him or just kind of rolls his eyes in a there’s-nothing-else-i-can-do sort of way. I think it’s interesting to compare that to the kind of support my grandpa got throughout all of his illnesses and ailments in his life. My grandfather had a heart attack many years ago and underwent quadruple bypass surgery. A few years later, he developed really aggressive skin cancer, and then a few years after that, he was bitten by a mosquito and contracted encephalitis that then put him into a coma. While he is okay now, I think it’s interesting to look back on all of that and remember how many people were there to support him. So many people brought my grandpa food and flowers and just came to see if he was okay even if they hadn’t spoken to him in years. With mental illnesses, however, I don’t think people really know how to cope or how to help those affected. I’m not trying to take anything away from the kind of physical trauma my grandpa underwent, I just think it’s interesting that when you have a heart attack or are in the hospital, people treat you like their kin, but with mental illnesses, your kin often become outsiders without any support at all.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been incredibly fortunate to not have had the experience of watching a relative or close friend suffer from any serious illness. This being said, I believe that, however open-minded I think I am about life-threatening diseases and how harmful and untrue their stigmatizations can be, there’s probably some subconscious stigmatization that I won’t be able to fully rid myself of until I have the experience of knowing someone who is in the midst of struggling with such a disease. I think the idea that full empathy cannot be realized without a personal connection is a general truth for everyone.
ReplyDeleteIt’s been proven time and time again that emotion moves people more than facts and statistics can. Because stories can provide that emotion, I think they will always be important to tell to combat stereotypes that can be regressive to a (hopefully) increasingly understanding societal culture surrounding disease. And of course, I think the media is an obvious way to circulate these stories (maybe through newspaper publication?) that might help all of us start to break down our preconceived understandings of various illnesses.
I really appreciate this post, as I think personal stories are super valuable when talking about things like illness and disease. It helps us remember that statistics aren't just numbers --- that there are actual people behind them.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate this post, as I think personal stories are super valuable when talking about things like illness and disease. It helps us remember that statistics aren't just numbers --- that there are actual people behind them.
My grandfather died of colon cancer extremely suddenly, as he didn't have any kind of screenings that could have detected it -- colon cancer is super treatable if caught early, and I'm not totally sure why he never was screened (especially considering he was a lifelong smoker and heavy drinker). This experience has made me think differently about the importance of getting cancer screenings and knowing what risk factors (eg genetics/lifestyle) you have that might lead to an increased chance of getting the illness. I also know multiple women who have had breast cancer, but their process was fortunately pretty simple and are now cancer-free.
After reading this I started to think about all the people in my life who had/have life-threatening illnesses and it was surprising to me how many people I could think of. Before I was born my mother was diagnosed at 32 with stage four tonsil cancer which was unusual because that type of cancer is usually only seen in older people who have either/both a smoking and alcohol addiction. My mom was given a 50% chance at survival which was scary for my dad but certainly not for my mom. Hearing stories of how it felt when she was going through radiation, how she had to be fed from a tube because her entire throat was raw, or how many times my dad would pray even though he wasn't religious was crazy enough for me to hear at a young age. My mother has always been a huge role model for me because of how strong she is and what she went through and still goes through because of the harsh effects radiation can give you. One of my friends was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma which attacks her muscles that connect to bone which restricted her movement and it is really hard to see someone my age being diagnosed with an aggressive disease, she is now in her third round of chemo and is going strong. One of my family friends was diagnosed with Leukemia in his late 20s but has been in remission for almost a year now, he also tutors students who need the help and is a wonderful guy. By knowing so many strong individuals who have/are battling cancer the stigmas/stereotypes with this disease have disappeared for me. Hearing all these stories really changed the dominant narrative surrounding cancer for me.
ReplyDeleteLike Isabel, I’ve been extremely fortunate to never have a close friend or relative suffer through a life-threatening illness during my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it was not nearly as severe or harrowing as cancer or a neurodegenerative disease or any of the countless illnesses and conditions many people have struggled with, my experience seeing how people close to my family dealt with addiction, or lived as recovering addicts, affected the way I perceived particular forms of addiction,. It also challenged the popular representations of alcoholism and drug usage as necessarily chronic, inescapable cycles worthy of contempt. I heard about about the AA system and the communities around it before I fully understood how addiction works and what it looks like, which certainly influenced my perspective (although I know addiction might not be the type of disease this post was referring to.)
I’m also interested in the resources Al-Anon provides for families of addicts, because I think they’re less publicized than may be ideal and a lot of people may not know they’re available. I also don’t know a lot about media representation of Al-Anon but I don’t think I’ve seen it mentioned often in TV or movies other than Grey’s Anatomy and the West Wing (although l don’t watch enough tv to really know so I could be wrong) while addiction in general is portrayed and included in plotlines pretty often. I wonder if greater representation of AA could encourage more people to seek the help they need, or whether it’s better to maintain the privacy of the AA community by not including it as a plot feature. Anyway, it’d be interesting to discuss.
This post made me realize how many people and family members I have either witnessed pass away from a life threatening illnesses or continue to fight them today. It is interesting to see how my perspective of the disease altered once I was face to face with someone close to me with an illness that both threatens and changes their life. I think that sharing a story of someone close to you can personalize the illness. Many times when we discuss life threatening illnesses it is from an outside perspective; we discuss the statistics and read the stories of people we have no emotional connection to. Once the story of someone close to us is shared we understand the illness in a different way; a more personable way. (also sorry I posted so late...I was studying for physics and forgot about this)
ReplyDeleteI think anything that becomes personalized makes you feel differently about the topic at hand. This makes one feel differently about the disease because of a third person perspective, one is placed in a position that makes it a first or second person perspective. Therefore, they are no longer a bystander or outsider to the disease. Sharing one’s story can definitely influence the culture of disease because perhaps the story will make other people, bystanders to the disease, more personalized to illnesses. Media can definitely play a role by ensuring that the stories are widespread and not glosses over. They can provide an emphasis that others cannot and be a spokesperson for those who cannot communicate to a larger audience.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother has battled cancer for the majority of her adult life. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer when my Mom was in high school, was diagnosed with both breast cancer and ovarian cancer again when I was born, and is now currently undergoing chemotherapy for another lapse of ovarian cancer. I didn't know anything about her extensive medical history until her most recent diagnosis, which interestingly enough, came about around the time second semester and our discussion of public health started. Thus, I've been able to examine my and my family member's reactions to her treatment through a different lens. At this point, she's already had a double mastectomy and a radical hysterectomy, which, as she's told me, have made her feel like less of a woman. In that sense, identity - in her case gender identity - plays a huge role in cancer treatment. Maybe this is something that we can explore.
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