Very interesting points. I recently underwent major surgery for cancer, and I can absolutely attest that the experience was harder on my wife than it was on me. I had an often painful, but oddly passive experience: once the doctor and I settled on a course of action, it was like riding the flume on a Disney ride: no twist or turn involved any decision on my part. I showed up at the hospital on the given date, having undertaken the preparations I was told to do, and went through the experience. No decision-making at all, and when you're too nauseous or weak to move, nobody expects anything of you.
While my dear wife Pamela had to do a great deal (she has a demanding job; we have two kids). She also had to worry about becoming a widow, as I did not. Her life was full of difficult choices, hard to decide and grueling to carry out. She still doesn't accept that the past two months were worse on her than on me, but it's absolutely true.
I also find it hard to think of myself as a "Cancer Survivor." How about "Hopeful Future Cancer Survivor"?
Yeah, just because you have cancer doesn't mean you can't clean the kitchen.
Bob wasn't going to post that, but I made him.
I was happy to see that you had started a blog, but what a bummer of a reason for doing so.
You take care. Wishing you as rapid and as thorough recovery as possible.
I have some thoughts on survivors that come from being the child of one and seeing the importance of having a name for her experience.
Words have power that we can master by giving a name to suffering that might seem otherwise all-powerful.
There ought to be a name for the families of survivors of all catastrophic events, but I'm sure all the people who are good at thinking those up are writing political speeches and too busy.