A person who has had a cancer diagnosis is oftentimes called a “cancer survivor.”
When people talk about “survivorship,” they are usually referring to navigating their life experiences and challenges resulting from their cancer diagnosis.
The phrase cancer survivor can mean different things to different people. It is often used as a general term describing someone who has had a diagnosis of cancer. This means that cancer survivorship starts at the time of diagnosis.
Not everyone who has or has had cancer uses the word survivor. For some people, this term doesn’t feel right. They may feel more comfortable defining themselves as a “person who has had cancer”, “a person living with cancer,” or another way.
