I don't know if this has been mentioned in this thread so far, but I studied communication in school and it's astounding how often people who are labeled as "suffering" or "fighting" or "dying from" cancer often lose hope and the ability to keep up the "fight."
The reality is that MANY people are LIVING with cancer. The language we use about disease is often one of battle, of fighting, or of being defeated and very often this can have a negative effect on the patient.
I'm not saying that this is something that will go away if we change the way we talk about it, but scientific studies have shown that the mindset of a patient about their disease can go a long way to helping the emotional, mental and yes, even physical health of the patient.
I was lucky that I studied this months prior because when my mom was in radiation we would NOT let her get down about it. I made sure that our family never used the war metaphor for the procedures she was going through. Even after she's been cured, there are lingering effects from the radiation, (she can get kind of forgetful--the doctors call it "scatter") but we never get serious about it. My mom loves her "scatter" and uses it for all sorts of comedy. Her emotional and psychological health was, I'm sure of it, improved by my family's ability to cope with her sickness without being beaten down by it.
Anything, even as seemingly insignificant as the language we use, that can be done to help healing--whether it be bodies, souls or minds--should be examined and tried, I think.
