"NED" means no evidence of disease, and women speak of "dancing with NED." A "pCR" is a pathologically complete response. The "new normal" refers to the adjustment to living with a cancer diagnosis—and whatever fallout you suffer from treatment—forever. "Foobies" means fake boobs. "Exchange City" is getting expandable saline implants exchanged for permanent silicon or saline implants. "Rads" are radiation treatments. "Mets" are metastatic deposits. And the glossary goes on and on.
You enter a new world when you have breast cancer, and you must learn the vocabulary that identifies the landmarks. Despite all the hospital dramas I've watched in my 50+ years of television, the medical terminology—and the concepts behind it—was overwhelming. The slang, like any jargon that presumes membership in a secret club, was irritating. I'm in the club, but it's a club that I didn't choose to join, one with members I didn't hand-select, and I just hate the secret handshakes, even as I perform them myself.
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