McCain is considered a warrior. But is that the right metaphor for his struggle with cancer?
The metaphor was inevitable.
Moments after the news of Sen. John McCain’s brain tumor reached
the internet, he was being pinned with the badge of the cancer warrior.
Tweets from others,
like @zhiemie506, invoked the war metaphor and the military record of the former Navy fighter
pilot and prisoner of war more directly: “John McCain is as real
as rain. He has a true adversary in Glio, but remember, they tried to
kill him in ‘Nam and failed. He’s a warrior!”
And while arguably no one in the U.S. is more well-positioned to wear the
fierce cancer fighter label than McCain, some patients and survivors say
it exemplifies how even well-intentioned observers can rely on stock phrases
that can sometimes do more harm than good.
Others say this warrior mentality helped them persevere through grueling
treatments and stretches of self-doubt that might have otherwise stripped
them of the will to live.
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