May 2017 - Fran Cannon Slayton

Proposed Health Care Amendment Will Bankrupt Small Business Owners

NY Times Article – The Rest of the Story My picture was in the New York Times yesterday as part of an article outlining the real world effects of the healthcare bill that is currently up for debate in the House of Representatives; the bill may go up for a vote today, Thursday, May 4th. Here’s the rest of the story that the Times didn’t report: I was diagnosed with brain cancer in January, 2016. Our family had (and still has) insurance through the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as Obamacare. My husband, Marshall, is a solo attorney – […]

Reframing the Language of Cancer

May 2, 20171 CommentBrain Tumor, Cancer Surgery, Language of Cancer, Uncategorized

I’ve been thinking for a long time about the language, labels, and metaphors that surround having brain – or any other kind of – cancer. In particular, I’ve been thinking about how I have consistently been told that I am fighting or battling cancer and that I am now a cancer survivor. Fighting. Battling. Surviving. Personally, I don’t identify with any of these words. Why? All of them are inherently violent, reminiscent of the war against cancer that I am supposed to be involved in. The problem with this is that I don’t want to live my remaining days engaged […]