I hate the win/lose language of cancer

It was February of 2015. I found an abnormal-looking mole on my back. A month later it was diagnosed as Melanoma. A month after that, the mole and the cancer were surgically removed. It was almost as simple as that.

When I told the story, I'd occasionally get congratulations for beating Melanoma/cancer. At first, it made me uncomfortable. The more I thought about it, it made me angry.

I didn't beat cancer. I didn't win anything. In less than a two-hour procedure, a surgeon removed something from my body. This wasn't a competition. There was no winning or losing.

At that same time, one of my friends was dealing with her own case of Melanoma. Hers was much more involved than mine. She had ten surgeries over a five-year period. Six months after my surgery, she died. Again, I heard the same language. She lost her battle with cancer.

During the years that she had Melanoma, she spent her time informing people of the danger of the disease. She warned people about staying out of tanning beds and how to be out in the sun safely. My friend wasn't a loser. Far from it. Her example of how she lived her life while dealing with Melanoma made her a winner in everyone’s book. Still, I don’t see why you need that label.

On Sunday, I heard the language again. WXRT radio personality Lin Bremer died from prostate cancer. Again, I heard those words…he lost his battle with cancer.

Let me say this one more time with a little more emphasis:

CANCER IS NOT A COMPETITION! THERE ARE NO WINNERS OR LOSERS!

Lin Brehmer didn't lose. He set a great example on how to live with cancer. He continued to work, he continued to go to concerts and Cubs games, and he continued to love his family. He basically did the same things with cancer that he did before his diagnosis. He didn't lose, he didn’t win, he just ran out of time.

We don't see it with other diseases. If someone dies from a stroke or heart disease, you don't hear that they lost their battle. So why use it for cancer? Why use it at all?

It's way past time to change the language of cancer outcomes. Let's start now.