Cancer Ghosting
Abandoning a person diagnosed with cancer
Example
The hardest part of my cancer battle is not the chemo, but getting cancer ghosted by your friends
I'm sorry you experienced that. :/
Related Slang
Ghosting | Leaving without saying goodbye |
Cancerversary | An important date regarding a person's fight against cancer |
AML | Acute myeloid leukemia |
HIV | Human immunodeficiency virus |
Dip | To leave |
Rollout | To leave |
Bounce | To leave |
BBN | Bye-bye now |
Forever alone | Single |
GALMA | Go away, leave me alone |
Cancer ghosting is an unfortunate occurrence where a person diagnosed with cancer feels ghosted by their friends and relatives. For example, if a person is months into chemo treatment and stuck in the hospital while their loved ones are living their lives, they may feel "cancer ghosted."
Various factors may lead to cancer ghosting. First, a person may just not be very good friends with the cancer patient, making it easy for them to cancer ghost a patient. Also, a person may cancer ghost their friend because they don't know how to support them through the trying time.
A person may also unintentionally cancer ghost a loved one. For example, they may be busy caring for kids, job and home responsibilities, etc., and not think of visiting, sending a card, or calling.
Origin of cancer ghosting
The origins of the "cancer ghosting" slang term are unclear, but the term gained usage in 2022 (coming from the "ghosting" term) as a way to name the feeling that many cancer patients experience. People mostly use it online via social media and cancer forums.