Pushing boundaries of normalcy

Abstract

We are all patients in some way---or, at the least, patients-in-waiting. Although I am reminded of this reality on a daily, if not hourly, basis, it is most apparent when I log onto the Internet to engage in what millions of users have begun doing in the last few decades: surf for health information. Typing in "breast cancer" for what must be the thousandth time, I look again for research that will provide insight into this biopolitical phenomenon. Perhaps more telling, I search for information about my own body. As I scan the material, I cannot help but ask myself what qualities I possess or have developed and how they fit into the categories of "high risk," "moderate risk," or "low to no risk."