Can We Choose A Better Word Please?...

Peering through the haze of my fatigued eyes this evening, I mindlessly was staring at a DateLine Program on NBC...it featured many "social" issues (a 7 year old bilateral amputee for starters) in tear-jerking, dramatic flare (a program format of BrainCheese stylish envy, I must admit!), but when it came to the segment on Farrah Fawcett and her "WAR ON CANCER", I had to turn the channel in disgust.

Now, don't misinterpret my nose-turning response...I LOVE Farrah Fawcett and have since I was a Charlie's Angels wannbe kid! And I DO admire her perseverance in the face of diversity and I salute her deep conviction to change the world/educate the world through a documentary about her cancer experience ("Farrah's Story"). I wish her peace and no malice whatsoever.

But I have to admit, when I kept hearing about her WAR ON CANCER, I just had to change the channel, lest I throw a stinky shoe and bust my own TV screen in a fit of contempt. This is what happens when I'm sleep-deprived and a bit depraved...I become contemptuous and prone to senseless acts...or at least I like to embellish and believe I am CAPABLE of such. Ahem...

Anyway, my channel-changing-break-my-fingers-hitting-the remote-button action was somewhat visceral. It had to do with the constant use of the word WAR...well, that and the endless references to "battling" and "fighting" her illness. After nearly causing whiplash in my neck from my involuntary back and forth spasms of shaking my head "no", I just sucked it up and changed the channel...I don't need another pain in my neck to complain about after all...there are far to many figurative and literal ones there already. (You KNOW who are!)

I'm curious when and how "we" (and no, mother...I do NOT have a turd in my pocket, as she would often ask whenever "we" misused the word "we" as kids) began using the English language so carelessly and also how such words containing so much hostility in meaning became household references to boost our egos and sense of dominance?

Consulting (funny...I first misspelled that word as "consluting", which is probably more accurate) dear Webster's Reference Library, I looked up the definition of "war"...this is straight from the *word ho* bible (or dictionary, if you would prefer not to think of Webster, a collection of word meanings, and prostitution all in the same description):

War - n. 1. fighting between nations 2. state of hostility 3. conflict, contest.

Then I looked up the word "battle": n. 1. fight between armies, combat, (verb) 2. fight 3. struggle

And finally, I glanced at the word "fight": v. 1. contend (with) in battle or in single combat 2. maintain against an opponent 3. resolve by combat 4. quarrel, dispute, contest, (and FINALLY a more palatable definition) 5. Resist

As you can tell, all three of these words were originally adopted in the English language to provide description or service to an action of violence, hostility, or dispute. My personal opinion (and of course I DO have one) is, I just don't think we should be using these type of words in conjunction with discussions about DISEASE...I frankly think this type of notion just sets up our *diseases* to be mighty pissed off at us and to seek REVENGE!

Western medicine's philosophy is to obliterate that which challenges us in hopes of ending the challenge or preserving the body. We use antibiotics, cell-destroying chemotherapies, and surgical removal in hopes of obliterating that which afflicts us...often without regard or understanding WHY we have become diseased or afflicted in the FIRST place. It is an *out of sight, out of mind* philosophy...one, that we are now paying a sometimes costly price for. MUST I mention MRSA here (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus)? The infection "WE" created from the overuse and misuse of antibiotics???

I am certainly NOT advocating a *lay down and die* approach toward disease management either...gawd knows I've PERSONALLY tried pretty much all of the Multiple Sclerosis drugs out there in hopes of finding that one drug that would either obliterate or slow down the demyelinating disease that is tapping on my last good nerve. But every time I have tried to "war" against, "conquer", "fight", or "battle" my MS, it ALWAYS seems to end up flanking me and kicking me squarely in the arse!

These days (and after month upon month of ending up bloodied on the battlefield), I am trying to take a more *coexisting* approach in my relationship with MS...it IS true...I don't always understand or appreciate the local customs and ways my MS has of doing things. And often times, we seem quite at odds in our dialogue with each other. But I am slowly coming to realize "WAR" against my MS is not the answer...anymore than WAR against a nation or group of people resolves a conflict.

To everything (and on a GOOD day!), I must believe there exists a purpose...a reason...a season or a place. I can choose to coexist with my neighbors or my disease process...OR, I can choose to be at WAR. And if I choose WAR, I must also be ready and willing to accept there will be no peace and many *casualties*...

So, blessings to you, Farrah, and your cancer...may you find more peace and less WAR with your disease process, leaving only comfort instead of casualties in spirit and mind...