Many of us have heard of Geraldine Ferraro, who ran with Walter Mondale in a failed U.S. presidential bid in the 1980s. What you may not know is that Ferraro was diagnosed with multiple myeloma almost a decade ago.

Today, she is living a full life and has seen her cancer go into remission after being given not that long to live when her cancer was first discovered. She gives credit to the Velcade drug, which controls the blood cancer she has without the nasty side effects that can come from traditional chemotherapy.

Velcade was not available when Ferraro was first diagnosed, but she swears by it now, saying that her cancer is "a chronic disease instead of a death sentence." The one thing that concerns Ferraro is the cost, since each Velcade injection costs $1,000 -- putting it out of the reach of many Americans (and others).

When afflicted with any health condition or disease, trying to make life normal is sometimes hard but it's great at getting your mind in a healthy state. If you're a teenager with cancer, attending a prom probably is the best way to find a semblance of normalcy for at least one evening.

That is, if you can stand. Some cancer patients I've talked to can be week the day of a chemotherapy treatment, but still talk and carry on, even in pain, as if they are the strongest people in the world. Guess what, they are.

The strength I've seen from teenagers and middle-aged folks going through a cancer battle is inspirational to say the least. Tired of looking to professional baseball players and movie stars as fake heroes? Try a cancer patient putting up a daily struggle with a smile at the same time. That's a hero.

Leialoha is an early riser, and blogs the beginning of her day in Mos Way Sunrise , a beautiful blog of sunrise photography as seen through Leialoha's eyes. She adds inspirational quotes from the spirit of her heart to each photo. When Leialoha Cator was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, an aggressive and rare soft tissue cancer of the uterus, her oncologist gave her a two-in-10 chance of living six months. Cator had experienced cancer before, when she cared for her beautiful young mother as her mother died of pancreatic cancer, and again, a few years later, when her aunt and grandmother died of cancer.

"Watching cancer suck the life from someone you love is torture: the doctor's visits, surgeries, testing, blood work, treatment, decline, and sorrow. Hopeful vigils mixed with feelings of helplessness. Corridors of frustration, fear, and rage." said Cator. "Now it was my turn."

With faith, family and friends, she was able to get through the treatments and resulting hair loss, nausea and fatigue with hope, determination and a will to survive. That was 14 years ago. Cator remains cancer-free today. She celebrates each birthday, "As a time to count my blessings and thank every person who helped me to get to this place, this time in my life. Now more that ever, I believe that each birthday, each day, IS a celebration." I came to know Cator when I visited Daily Celebrations, a website she created and has maintained for seven years, a website celebrating each day with hope, joy and inspiration. Leialoha Cator is one of my sisters in survivorship, and I am in awe of the bright light she brings to this world in the joy of her giving spirit, much like the sunrise she greets each day.

Woven with words and woven within the space between the words of her journey, are answers and questions without answer, history and inequities, ancient wisdom and exquisite insight, grandmotherly vision and a healer's spiritual touch. Kara Briggs, Yakama journalist, is a breast cancer survivor chronicling her struggle to survive and understand breast cancer; remember the old ways with the new ways; and speaking out against the challenges of a government health system and medical funding crisis that does not seem to care when it is their job to take care of its people.

In her latest column, she speaks of Dr. Bernie Siegel, who wrote in ''Love, Medicine and Miracles'' that medicine - and, in our time, health insurance - primarily exists to keep us alive until we find our individual path to healing our minds and bodies. Ms. Briggs speaks of Joseph Campbell and recovering the power of story. Because we are story, we begin as story, and it is our story that can lead us to healing.

Photo credit: Kara Briggs, Yakama journalist, former president of the Native American Journalists Association and winner of the 2004 Richard LaCourse Award for Investigative Journalism.

Sharon Osborne, accomplished businesswoman in music and television, entertainment personality, wife of Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osborne, and mother to Aimee, Kelly and Jack, is a colon cancer survivor. In 2002, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She faced grueling chemotherapy treatments for colon cancer and the issues of being a cancer survivor, in front of a camera, during the filming of "The Osbornes."

As a colon cancer survivor, she started The Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedar's Sinai to raise awareness about colon cancer, and to provide support and resources for colon cancer sufferers and their families.

"When I successfully overcame colon cancer in 2003 I personally wanted to raise awareness of this horrific disease and established the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars Sinai. My charity offers, among other things, colonoscopies and screenings to people without medical insurance, as well as those with minimal coverage, transportation to chemotherapy for patients and nursing consultation to those in need of assistance with their aftercare. I can't begin to tell you how it broke my heart to see other less fortunate patients who did not have the means for basic care or even someone to drive them to and from their chemotherapy appointments. We continue to be completely focused on prevention and for the caring of patients," states Osborne.

Sharon Osbourne's philosophy is simple: "live everyday to the fullest, and don't save for tomorrow what you can do today."

In 2003, Christine Baze, of Popsmear, developed the Yellow Umbrella Tour as a series of benefit concerts held across the country in order to raise cervical cancer awareness and prevention for women. Each year since, the tour has grown in popularity and participation of performers and supporters. As Baze explains, of the Yellow Umbrella Tour name, "Everyone needs a yellow umbrella from time to time. Something to protect from the elements and harsh realities of daily life. Something to use as a tool, in battle, to provide strength against the enemy. Something to shine brightly and inspire when there is only darkness." Baze is a cervical cancer survivor and musician with a cause.

In 2004, Christine Stewart, a young woman with two small children, who did not smoke cigarettes, was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. At the time of diagnosis, Stewart was given a two percent chance of surviving a lung cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, tailbone and brain. The good news, her physician told her, was that she still had enough time to draw up a will. During the next year of chemotherapy and radiation, her lung cancer continued to spread. Chemotherapy and radiation had failed her. One year after the initial lung cancer diagnosis, Stewart was prescribed Tarceva, a new line of targeted therapy cancer drugs, and six months later, her lung cancer had gone into remission. Stewart says she made a promise to God, that if she regained her health, she would help others affected by cancer. Practical Truisms is that promise. Practical Truisms is a book, an inspirational website for anyone who receives a cancer diagnosis with advice to make a will, and the story of Stewart's lung cancer survival.

On April 7, 2006, Stewart has a speaking engagement at the American Cancer Society Relay For Life in Naples, Florida, where she will discuss the burden of the "Positive Attitude" concept and how to develop an "Effective Attitude" instead. All in all, I think Stewart's promise to God has been a promise well-kept.

When Jacki Donaldson found a lump in her breast while showering, her doctor sent her in for a mammogram. Because she was the youngest person waiting to get a mammogram, she took it as a sign the lump was nothing serious. Mammograms are not recommended for women until they reach 40 years of age. Donaldson was only 34 years old, too young for cancer, she thought. The day before Thanksgiving, her doctor called to tell her the news. Donaldson had breast cancer.

When she started keeping my Breast Cancer blog, she intended it as a way for family and friends to stay informed of her progress. Her blog grew in readership, beyond the sphere of family and friends, to include other cancer survivors and strangers who care. As she kept blogging, she realized the blog served several purposes. Comforting words from readers quiet her worries, lift her mood, and give her inner strength. Readers are thankful for her blog and her willingness to share her breast cancer experience, because it motivates them, informs them, and helps them. Blogging is a great way of creating connections. Connections that heal.

Deb McNeill, a two-year survivor of breast cancer, has joined forces with Janice Connolly-Laubenstein, both Massachusetts residents, to get a breast cancer license plate issued to raise awareness and funds for a breast cancer cure. The Cure Breast Cancer License Plate Initiative, a volunteer, nonprofit group, is working to get the first "Cure Breast Cancer" license plate issued in their state. Proceeds from the license plate fees will go to Tufts-New England Medical Center for breast cancer research. Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Massachusetts has announced its corporate sponsorship of the plate initiative.

Deb and Janice are carrying on the dream of Diane Connolly-Zaniboni, who, at 39, lost her battle with inflammatory breast cancer. Before Diane passed away, she delivered a proposal to the Massachusetts Senate for the creation and sale of this license plate. If you do not live in Massachusetts, frames for license plates are available. One license plate frame reads, "Survivor" and the other frame reads, "One Car At A Time!"

Susan Nessim survived cancer but had difficulties being a cancer survivor. After successfully completing treatments for soft tissue sarcoma, she looked forward to going back to her old life before the cancer diagnosis. Nessim returned to college to find her friends acting standoffish and distant. Her engagement to be married ended when her future mother-in-law insisted that a woman with cancer was not a good match for her son. When Nessim and a coworker were both being considered for the same work promotion, her coworker was offered the position, before Nessim got a chance to be interviewed. Nessim would find out later that the coworker, whom she had considered a friend, revealed Nessim's personal cancer history to their employer. The subtle suggestion was made that Nessim might not be up to the demands of the increased workload of the new position.

Back in the 1970's, there were few, if any, resources or support for cancer survivors. Nessim and Lisa, another cancer survivor, decided to start a support system for cancer survivors. Cancervive offers resources, books and award-winning documentaries for survivors who cope with depression, infertility, intimacy issues, job and insurance problems, and the side effects of cancer treatment; and addresses the concerns of siblings, parents, school classmates, health professionals, and the larger society affected by cancer.

Kylie Minogue, 37, diagnosed with an aggressive type of breast cancer in May 2005, is reported to be in full remission. After eight months of surgeries and chemotherapy, she is said to be gaining weight and feeling optimistic about the future. In addition to the conventional medical treatments for breast cancer, Minogue used a variety of alternative therapies, including visualization practices, nutrition, massage and Reiki. Minogue is spending time with her family in Melbourne, Australia, tending to the garden and possibly writing a book for children. She plans on touring later this year.