Surviving

"I survived…."  We have all said it, both in jest and seriously.  It is used in a very generic fashion, to the point it almost dilutes or equalizes the emotional punch not defined by the very definition of the word.  To say I survived an earthquake, a pimple on prom day, a tsunami, freshman year in college, running a marathon, a broken relationship, the Holocaust, a bad day at work, or a car accident, takes away from the individual experience and the meaning it brought to the lives of those affected.  I have survived some very emotional, heart breaking things in my life, for sure, but it is impossible to compare my journey to someone else's. 

Definition of SURVIVE (Merriam - Webster dictionary)

intransitive verb

: to remain alive or in existence : live on

: to continue to function or prosper

transitive verb

: to remain alive after the death of survived by his wife>

: to continue to exist or live after <survived the earthquake>

: to continue to function or prosper despite : withstand survived many hardships>

I attended an Oncology educational meeting the other night that discussed survivorship and how we as a medical professionals can best help people in this stage of their cancer journey.  It was quickly apparent to me that everyone has their own definition of the term survivor, when you can call yourself one, and emotions the word brings forth.

An estimated 1.6 million people will be newly diagnosed with cancer in the US in the year 2015 according to the American Cancer Society.  As a new nurse working on the inpatient Oncology ward in 1993, I was taught that a person is a survivor on the day they were diagnosed.  From a patient's perspective, they may feel differently.  Many don't feel like a survivor until they finish their treatment or even until they hit their five year of "no evidence of disease" date.  And what about the many people who live with cancer in a chronic disease state for many years?  How would they describe themselves?  Titles don't begin to tell their stories.

The Commission on Cancer and American Society of Clinical Oncology are making it a standard for accreditation for cancer care centers to develop and implement a Survivorship Care Plan, something I agree with 100%.  It is the titling of the experience that I am struggling with.  It is part of a patient's journey to define, embrace and get through being diagnosed with cancer, not ours to standardize and simply call them survivors.  That's the challenge of the medical community, to accept and embrace the individual and not give their gut wrenching, life changing event a generalized standard.  Hopefully we are better than that.