A Little Blurb on Cancer Etiquette

I thought this was worthwhile as I've heard so many crazy things throughout my fathers cancer fight -

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A good friend of mine recently learned she has breast cancer. Even though I spend most of my time writing for a living, I was at a loss for the right words to comfort her.

Dr. Bernadine Healy, a brain tumor survivor, urges extra sensitivity in talking to cancer patients.

It wasn't until I interviewed Dr. Bernadine Healy, a brain cancer survivor, that I discovered there is such a thing as cancer etiquette.

"I found as a patient, sometimes people are awkward, and they'll say the strangest things to you," said Healy, former head of the National Institutes of Health and the American Red Cross.

She recounted in her book "Living Time" a conversation with a female acquaintance who declared, "You look great. It's amazing how good you can look when you're dying."

In another instance, Healy recalled a woman grabbing her hair and feeling the texture and asking, "Is that your hair, or is it a wig?"

Not surprisingly, Healy said, such remarks aren't good cancer etiquette.