Saying someone lost a battle to cancer is like saying they lost a battle with a truck that hit them — that’s survivor MaryElizabeth Williams’ stance on the language people tend to use when discussing the disease.
As a metastatic melanoma survivor, the language people use when they talk about cancer is something MaryElizabeth feels deeply about. “For me, personally, it makes me crazy when people who don’t know another person’s experience say that they ‘battled’ cancer, or they ‘lost their battle’ with cancer … Cancer isn’t fair, it will ravage your body. I know because I felt it inside of me. That’s not a battle. It’s not something that can be won or lost.”
MaryElizabeth says she’s much more comfortable being honest about what cancer is and what it does. Simply saying someone “had cancer” or “was in treatment for cancer” or even “died from cancer” is so much more kind to the people who have actually dealt with the disease.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
Saying someone lost a battle to cancer is like saying they lost a battle with a truck that hit them — that’s survivor MaryElizabeth Williams’ stance on the language people tend to use when discussing the disease.
As a metastatic melanoma survivor, the language people use when they talk about cancer is something MaryElizabeth feels deeply about. “For me, personally, it makes me crazy when people who don’t know another person’s experience say that they ‘battled’ cancer, or they ‘lost their battle’ with cancer … Cancer isn’t fair, it will ravage your body. I know because I felt it inside of me. That’s not a battle. It’s not something that can be won or lost.”
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MaryElizabeth says she’s much more comfortable being honest about what cancer is and what it does. Simply saying someone “had cancer” or “was in treatment for cancer” or even “died from cancer” is so much more kind to the people who have actually dealt with the disease.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
