I never thought the time would come when I could fill a page with names of people I know who have cancer or have died from cancer. When my mom's very best friend died years and years ago of pancreatic cancer, it seemed a remote chance that something like that would happen to someone I know. And then slowly, either because cancer cases increased or because my awareness increased -- or both -- my list of people with cancer grew and grew and grew. And now it's quite long. And it's quite disturbing. And it's empowering too -- because most people on my growing list are surviving. And here are seven survivors who are somehow connected to me -- seven survivors who make up just the tip of the cancer iceberg in my life that stretches far and wide.

• Mary was one of the first cancer survivors I met just after my own cancer diagnosis. Mary is a young woman, a wife, a mom of two young children -- and she is currently thriving with a head full of new hair after a leukemia diagnosis and subsequent bone marrow transplant.

• Julie is a friend from many years ago. We met when my five-year-old Joey was just a baby and we had no idea cancer would affect us both. But it did. And just last year, Julie was diagnosed with kidney cancer. She had her right kidney removed and is fully recovered. She now spends her days managing the routine of her family -- which includes a husband, three young children, a dog, and a job too.

• Amy and I have never met -- but we've e-mailed and talked on the phone and cried together about our similar breast cancer diagnoses and treatments. Amy has survived a mastectomy, reconstruction, and chemotherapy and is now caring for her mom who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Amy is a nurse, a wife, and a mom of a young son and toddler daughter. Amy is a special faraway friend.
  

• Pat is a neighbor -- who came knocking on my door when I was sick from chemotherapy and could barely stand up to answer the door. Yet I found a way to greet the neighbor I had never before met -- and I found out that she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was scared and teary and wanted to talk after a mutual friend led her my way. We spoke and stayed in touch and just recently modeled together in a cancer-charity fashion show. Pat is also a nurse, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother.

• Gayle is another neighbor who is proudly baring her bald head for all to see as she receives treatment for breast cancer. Gayle, a wife and mom of two young boys, works full-time and never seems to waver from her usual spunky self -- even though she is knee-deep in chemotherapy.

• Theresa is co-worker who just recently shared with me that she has survived thyroid cancer for 12 years. And she has been surviving for two years the death of her husband from pancreatic cancer. He survived for 15 months after a prognosis that gave him 12 weeks to live.

• Kyle is the son of family friends. I knew him when he was just a baby but never knew him as he grew into a man. He is now in his 20s and is a college student, studying to become a pharmacist. Kyle was diagnosed with lymphoma this year and has completed his course of aggressive treatment. He is back at school -- and back to life.

I could have never predicted it -- that I would know so many people whose lives would be derailed by cancer and whose strength and spirit would allow them to fight to survive. I am sad that these seven people are just a small sample of a much larger cancer picture. But I am proud to be among this group of seven survivors. Because they help me survive.