Petra Ibum Adjah, Programs and Communications Manager at Pink Africa Foundation (PAF), shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Your words can heal — or they can break
We talk a lot about medicine, scans, and treatment plans. We don’t talk enough about words.
The careless words of a medical professional can hit harder than chemo. One dismissive sentence can bring down a survivor’s spirit and make them want to give up instead of fight.
Here’s a story that stays with me:
A survivor beat cancer once. Years later, it came back. He walked into the oncologist’s office ready to fight round 2.
Instead of encouragement, he heard: ‘I’ve lost a lot of patients and the chances of survival are slim.’
No plan. No hope. Just statistics delivered like a verdict.
He’d already survived once. He was asking for a partner in the fight. What he got was fear.
Words matter in oncology. Survival rates aren’t prophecies. They’re data from the past. They don’t predict the person sitting in front of you. Hope isn’t false — it’s medicine too.
To healthcare professionals: Patients remember how you made them feel long after they forget the drug names. Speak truth, yes. But wrap it in dignity, options, and encouragement. A survivor needs a teammate, not a eulogy.
To survivors and caregivers: If a doctor’s words knock the wind out of you, get a second opinion. Find a care team that fights with you. You are not a statistic. You are not ‘lost’. You are here.
This month, let’s pledge to not only celebrate survivors, but protect their spirit, too.
PS: The survivor is still in the fight. You can support him.”
More posts featuring Petra Ibum Adjah.