Last month, I came across an article published in The New York Times that explains how the word "cancer" is misused over and over by doctors when diagnosing patients. In fact, some doctors tell their patients that they have cancer when the diagnosis is benign.
The article, Cancer by Any Other Name Would Not Be as Terrifying, says that "some medical experts have recommended getting rid of the word “cancer” altogether for certain conditions that may or may not be potentially fatal." In other words, if the cells identified are either abnormal or benign, but are not yet "cancerous," then there is no need for doctors to say that a patient has cancer. In my opinion, by telling patients that they have cancer when they do not have it initiates panic.
A friend of mine, a 24-year-old young woman whose name will remain anonymous, had a similar experience a year ago. She went to her gynecologist's office for a pap smear, and when the results came back, the nurse called her and said that she had to make another appointment for further exams because the results showed abnormal cells that could be cancerous.
At first, my friend was speechless, then she began to cry while talking on the phone with the nurse (I know this because I was with her that day). Her hands were shaking while tears streamed down from her face. She kept glancing at me and squeezing my hand as the nurse explained to her the situation further. All my friend could say to the nurse was if she was going to be okay. I could see the fear of cancer in her eyes; I didn't know what to do except telling her that everything was going to be fine.
What shocked me the most are my friend's words after she was done speaking with the nurse. She said to me, "Now I know what you felt like when you found out you had cancer." I was thinking to myself, "Not really because the nurse did not actually say that you have cancer." The nurse simply said that she had to go back to the doctor's office for additional medical exams because the results showed abnormal cells that could or could not lead to cancer. My friend was jumping to conclusions, but I do not blame her. That's what happens when doctors or nurses mention the word "cancer"—you panic.
Long story short, the results from the additional medical exams came back negative and my friend was relieved and stress free. Although she has to make an appointment for a pap smear every six months, she is glad that she does not have cancer. I am glad too; I just cannot see people that I care about go through such an awful and painful experience.
The reason I told this story is to show how powerful the word "cancer" really is, and this is why doctors or nurses should be careful when using it. Even though my friend never had cancer, she thought she did after hearing the nurse's words. If the nurse used different words to describe the condition without mentioning the word "cancer," I am sure that my friend would not have panicked. Perhaps, medical experts should change the name of benign cancers to something less evasive that does not contain the word "cancer." This would decrease unnecessary worry and panic among patients.
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