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Comparing Cancer and Non Cancer Patients

By: Hannah Williams

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Abstract

This paper summarizes the lives of cancer patients and non cancers patents that have that
have never had to deal with this time of experience in their lives. It deals with the way that the
over 30% of people diagnosed with cancer are handling this disease (Center for Disease Control,
2014). This way you are able to get to see the perspective from not only an inside but an outsider
looking in. This way there lives, the way they look at this disease, and how the are affected by it
can all be seen. You will see person interviews from cancer patients and their families to get a
real life view of how everyone is actually affected. There will be three interviews conducted two
separate interviews with 2 cancer patients and then an interview with them together.

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Cancer patients are usually are seen as week or taken upon with pity and sorrow. Its
funny though when you speak with a cancer patient personally that you get the exact opposite
impression. You look at them and you sees strength, courage, and brave heart. Perception is one
thing that always has people fooled. When you are looking from the outside versus looking from
the inside you have two completely different views. As we get into this essay we are going to be
looking at the difference between actually being a cancer patient from not having cancer and
living life with a patient with cancer, this way we can see the two opposites and how they
interact with each other.
The first cancer patient I sat down to interview was Sarah Hughes, who has been fighting
the long hard batter with leukemia. Sarah is someone I went to school with and have had the
opportunity to know for years. Our school has seen her battle from being diagnosed, to
remission, to the cancer reoccurring. When I first sat down to speak with her she had recently
discovered that the cancer had returned. I first ask her, When you discovered this battle hadnt
been one yet, what was your reaction? Sarah responded to me, It was devastating to learn that
after the battle I had fought that my cancer was back again. I began to get extremely down in the
beginning, but then I stepped back and realized that Im still alive. God is letting me live to fight
this and help other people battling the same problem to fight (Hughes, 2015) This response is
not what most would expect from someone going through such a difficult time. To see how
someone from the outside would view this response, I turned to my roommate, Lexie Taylor who
is the same age as Sarah. Even though the responses dont begin to compare I asked her what she
believed would be her response in that moment finding out the cancer was back if she was in
Sarahs shoes. Lexie responded, The utter thought of that happening to me is absolutely insane.

I couldn't even begin to describe the fear that I think I would feel, or the desperation and
hopelessness. The thought of those series of events happening to me is just pure gut wrenching
(Taylor, 2015). I then went on to ask her how she believed that Sarah reacted when she heard
the news and her response was about the same as it was for herself. She said, She would feel
heartbroken and feel desperation. If you look back to Sarahs response to the same question you
will see that is not the tone that she gave off during our interview. Of course the information was
devastating to her, but she quickly turned her outlook around to how God was keeping her alive
to fight it and how she wants to be a role model for other people. This shows an outsiders view
from an insiders. The strength that a cancer person has is so unbelievably admirable. That is
something that is hard for many non cancer patients to see from the outside looking in on the
situation.
Another way that cancer patients tent to be looked at is with pity people who have never
experienced what they are going through. People tend to think of people diagnosed with cancer
and feel sorry for them as if the have no chance at having a happy life. When I was interviewing
my second cancer patient Sherry Fuqua, who is also known as my Aunt Sherry. She was
diagnosed with breast cancer about six months ago. Which I imagine is a very scary thing for her
especially when you consider that fact that her mothers life was taken by breast cancer. When I
spoke to her and ask how she felt about the way she has been treated by the people that know of
her diagnoses her response was, You can see the pity in someones eyes right when you use the
word cancer. Dont get me wrong I am so thankful for my loved ones and how much they care
about me, but there is nothing worse than that hopeless feeling that they give. Its like I cant do
anything for myself anymore and I hate how much they worry about. Theres no need to worry

though, I am a strong woman who is fight breast cancer. I want to influence people and let
everyone know that we can beat this together (Fuqua, 2015). I can say myself as an outsider
looking in when I heard this news I was devastated. I felt so terrible for her and the position that
she was in. It took me a while she didnt want me to feel sorry for her. She wanted to talk about
the fight and how she was going to kick cancers butt. It was one of the most motivational things
that I had ever seen out of a person going through such a rough time. That lead me to my next
question which was, How do you take this situation and turn it around? Where do you find the
strength to be so motivational? She then responded to me, I find the strength in my family and
looking into my grandchildren's eyes. They are old enough to know whats going on with me and
I dont want them to see grandma giving up, I want them to see grandma fighting. I want to lead
by example for them and show no matter what life throughs at you that doesnt mean you can
feel sorry for yourself and stop pushing (Fuqua, 2015). I then asked her how she felt about the
other cancer patients and she responded, We are a family and we fight together and we lose
together. We are brave for each other and we are here to push each other towards cancer free
lives.
Once I completed my interviews with Mrs. Fuqua and Ms. Sarah I then got the amazing
opportunity to interview them side by sides. I was great to see how they acted with each other
about the topic versus how that acted with someone like me who had never had to experience
such a thing in her life before. The first question I asked the two of the was, What is the most
common misconception people that dont have cancer usually assume. Ms. Sarah answered,
That we feel sorry for ourselves. Mrs. Fuqua answered, That because of our diagnosis that
we have somehow became weaker individuals. When we disgust their answers we came to the

conclusion that they were both negative and taking away from the patient. When Sarah and
Sherry tell me that isnt true at all. Sarah added, Since I was diagnosed I have completely
changed the way I live. I dont take anything for granted, I cherish the time I have with my loved
ones more, and most importantly I live my life to the fullest like I never know when my last day
with. She almost was looking at the cancer as a positive thing in her life. That is because she
was making the best out of her situation and showing just how much strength she did have. As I
watched them it was easy to tell that they understood each other on a level I just couldnt get to
without the experience. They really valued here each others stories and even being complete
strangers before this interview you could see how proud the were of each other to keep fighting
the battle, they were family.
I then asked Sherry and Sarah together if they had anything cancer versus non cancer
patients looked at the same. Sherrys response to me was, We both inspire each other to do
better. They inspire me with their health and show me where I want to be. I inspire them to live
each day a little fuller than the last. So I would say believe it or not I think we have the same
affect on each other. Sarah then added, I believe what Sherry said is very true. Also, believe it
or not a good amount of the time unless the cancer is very advanced we live life the same way as
everyone else. Were not missing out we get to enjoy the world too.
In conclusion, I would like to say what has been taken away from this interview is that
the we all can inspire each other. Maybe, sometimes we need to look a little more into things
before we decide the way that we are going to let it make us feel. This interview was absolutely
amazing, I left with the feeling that anything is possible and feeling so inspired to live life great.

It was really easy to see the differences between being a cancer patient and not having the illness
at all. Also, it was easy to see the way that cancer patients acted with each other and the
understanding and friendship you could automatically sense. This experience is definitely
something that will change the way you view cultures that you are not apart of.

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Bibliography
Sherry Fuqua
Sarah Hughes
Martin, Adrienne M. How We Hope: A Moral Psychology.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 2013. Pp. 168

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Release of 1999-2005 United Sates Web-based
Report. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Vol. 58, No. 9, p. 233
Geller, Berta and Flynn, Brian. What are cancer survivors needs and how well are they being
met
Journal of Family Pratice. Vol.63 Issue 10, pE7-E16. 10p.ReferencesCancer Prevalence: How
many people have cancer. (2014, May 14). Retrieved February 21, 2015.
Lexie Taylor
Antoni MH, Lehman JM, Kilbourn KM, Boyers AE, Culver JL, Alferi SM, Yount SE, McGregor
BA, Arena PL, Harris SD, Price AA, Carver CS. Health Psychol [2001]