Diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020, Annabelle Gurwitch said she found the “cancer warrior” mindset limiting, and that it sometimes made her "feel like a fraud"
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NEED TO KNOW
- Annabelle Gurwitch was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2020, despite never smoking
- She challenges the “cancer warrior” mindset, saying it made her feel like a fraud at times
- Gurwitch credits advancements in lung cancer treatments for helping her rebuild confidence and focus on quality of life
Annabelle Gurwitch, author and former TV host, admitted that she never felt like the “cancer warrior” that people often describe.
In an interview with WTOP, the 64-year-old spoke about her 2020 lung cancer diagnosis and said that she could have never expected it, especially as someone who's never smoked.
“I was asymptomatic for lung cancer,” she recalled. “I went in for a COVID test. I walked out with stage 4 lung cancer.”
The diagnosis was so traumatic for her, she compared its effects to a brain injury. She often found herself forgetting things and lacking concentration.
“I was getting lost when I would go to the grocery store two blocks from my house. I lost my ability to drive. I lost track of my finances. I had my car repossessed,” she said.
Credit: annabellegurwitch1/Instagram
As she slowly learned to cope with her new reality, Gurwitch said that always being told to "seize the day" became exhausting — even though she knew people meant well.
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“When you get diagnosed, people will tell you you're brave or you're a warrior, and I don't always feel brave and like a warrior,” she said. “This lexicon of ‘cancer warrior' … was not only limiting to me, but also made me feel some days like a fraud. Like I wasn't living up to this idea.”
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As she started treatment, Gurwitch said that it took a while to feel like herself again. “I slowly was able to, over months … rebuild my confidence and my trust in my own body,” she said.
She also realized that the advancements in lung cancer treatments have allowed those with late-stage disease to live longer, pushing her to shift her mindset.
Rather than living each day like it's your last, she said, “a better, kinder approach is to live each day like it's the first day of your life, with curiosity for what is next.”
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Gurwitch told the outlet that she's now challenging that common “cancer warrior” mindset in her new book, The End of My Life Is Killing Me: The Unexpected Joys of a Cancer Slacker.
“There's a greater percentage of us living longer now. There's a lot of unknowns in the future,” she said. “I now pay a lot more attention to everyday quality of living.”
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