These seven breast cancer survivors have been featured on The Cancer Blog before, all because of their own personal blogs and their own personal battles with cancer. Today, I offer you an update on these remarkable individuals whose stories have undoubtedly touched many lives.

Adriene

On April 26, 2006, Adriene wrote a final entry on her Survivor Blog. "This will be my last entry on the Survivor Blog," she writes. "I am finished. And I am complete, at least I feel I am. Now it's time to be in health and in love and in gratitude. To be at another level. It's time to move. Move. The wind beneath."

Breast cancer -- and writing about it -- is behind her. But Adriene is still inspiring readers on her blog. Check out her site's photo.a.day feature. It's nothing but moving.

Jen

Jen, a young wife and mom who blogs My Journey through Motherhood, once wrote about breast cancer every few days. Now she can't seem to find time to keep up with her entries. What good news for this survivor who is busy with life and not cancer.

Sandee

Sandee, author of I Will Survive, is quite a breast cancer warrior. She has been fighting the disease and it's cruel spread for many years and finds herself living with constant treatment. Her most recent blog entry, posted on April 14, reads:

Feeling down, I just can't shake this tired feeling, cancer treatments may keep you alive but they totally change everything about you. I know I should be grateful but I miss the way I used to be. I miss my hair ... I miss my eyebrows ... I miss my eyelashes ... I miss my toenails ... I miss my slender body ... I miss my energy ... I miss shopping for hours ... I miss not being afraid ... I miss not taking medication ... I miss volunteering ... I miss working out ... I miss being pain-free ... I miss feeling pretty ... I miss wearing high heels ... I miss driving 5-speed ... I miss not being able to plan ahead ... I miss going to family functions ... I miss feeling immortal ... I miss my health ... I miss my old breasts ... I miss having flawless skin ... I miss a lot!

Despite her uphill battle, Sandee ends each blog entry with a random thought and something for which she is thankful. Her random thought on April 14: Regardless, I'm still happy to be alive! And then: Today I am thankful for my kids.

Valerie

Valerie blogs The Beck Family and fills her space with happy photos and positive words. Busy recuperating from a hysterectomy, growing out her post-chemotherapy hair, and training to participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, Valerie is doing well -- and keeping busy going to baseball games and Las Vegas with girlfriends. She has a new puppy and a great outlook on life after cancer.

"Our life is back to normal and normal things are happening," she writes. "Our transmission went out on our Yukon last week, and it was under warranty, so it is in the shop. Our washing machine stopped working due to me overloading it too many times, so we went out and got a new front loading one. Its pretty cool!!! and that's it. Everyone else is doing great. We still love our new puppy.

Patty

Patty's husband blogs Patty's Journey. "Patty hasn't been feeling great the last few days," he writes on April 25. "She's had a light headed feeling and can't seem to get a deep breath. She's not sure if she's just become acutely aware of her breathing or what. I've read that the Herceptin can cause dizziness in 13% of patients so I'm not sure if this is what this could be or not. Hopefully, it is nothing. She's sees the doctor tomorrow so we'll see what he says. Pray that these issues resolve for her."

Patty, a mom to four young daughters, is finishing up radiation while receiving Herceptin treatment.

Marjorie

Marjorie and her husband Gordon take turns updating Beating Breast Cancer. But the last entry on this site was posted on November 28 and other than what Marjorie writes on this date, I am not sure how she is doing.

"On the day of the poisoning by taxotere I feel OK," writes Marjorie on this November day. "Next day my body feels strange and tired. The answer should be wee nap in the afternoon, but NO. My mind is so wired and agitated I found myself planning next year's Christmas dinner -- not this year's. This goes on for two or three days then WHAM, I'm the most depressing person to be around."

I hope Marjorie's absence from writing is an indication she is thriving and is too distracted by the joys of life to take a seat at the keyboard.

Kristina

Kristina blogs for The Cancer Blog -- and also for herself, her friends, and her family on her personal site.

Kristi, who calls herself a young Breast Cancer Survivor, Freethinker, New Marine Aquarist, Reach for Recovery Volunteer, reluctant accountant, freelance writer, voracious reader and cancer blogger, most recently is mourning this loss of her beloved cat Cleo, making a difference with the Young Survival Coalition, and laughing it up with friends traveling similar breast cancer paths.

Breast cancer survivor Catherine West was married to her husband, Jason, in a very public ceremony in May. The couple beat out 450 other couples battling in the ESPN Marriage Madness competition and celebrated with sports fans everywhere their beautiful union, inspired not only by their love for one another but also by the one-year anniversary of Catherine's double mastectomy for breast cancer.

What fans didn't know at the time of the wedding was that Catherine knew in her heart something was very wrong. And just after she returned from her Indianapolis 500 honeymoon, Catherine learned her breast cancer had returned.

The 37-year-old from Jupiter, Florida underwent three more surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation and is happy to report her treatment is complete. She is also certain breast cancer came to her life -- twice -- so she could make a difference.

"This happened to me so I could help other people,'" said West, who volunteers her time for the West Palm Beach Race for the Cure, a 5K walk and run sponsored by Susan G. Komen For The Cure.

It's day 15 in this Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the survivors spotlighted on this site are stacking up. Yet we've only just scratched the surface of breast cancer survivor stories. And by the end of October, we will have only featured a very small sample of survivors everywhere. There are countless others with their own powerful stories. It's sad there are so many stories shaped by breast cancer. It's empowering too -- because breast cancer survivors are a passionate bunch. They are passionate in their fights, passionate in their beliefs, passionate in their willingness to help others.

A passionate bunch of survivors can be found here on The Cancer Blog. They are all women, of various ages, with various backgrounds, defined by different experiences. They are also quite the same -- for they have all been touched by breast cancer. And their words of wisdom are strikingly similar, despite the contrast in characteristics that define these women and their very individual battles with breast cancer.

Here are seven survivor similarities worth spotlighting.

Most of us know her as Elyse Keaton on the long-time ago sitcom Family Ties. Many also know her from the variety of characters she has portrayed on television specials and movies. And Meredith Baxter is also known for her support of breast cancer research -- something not so apparent or obvious but just as significant in the scope of her life in the spotlight. Like many issues she speaks out on -- women's rights, gun control, state legislative matters -- breast cancer is an issue about which she is passionate. She has appeared at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks and presented gifts to the cause of breast cancer research and has starred in the 1994 television movie My Breast -- about a woman who successfully battles breast cancer. And she also has her own Meredith Baxter Foundation for Breast Cancer Research which began when she donated $10,000 to the University of Minnesota Cancer Center where her foundation was started. Much of the funding for this foundation comes from Baxter herself via the profits she makes from her own skin care products that are available in gift stores around the country. She says that life has been so kind to her that she was looking for a way to share her good fortune. So she took her concern about breast cancer prevention into the business arena. And just as she soared to success as one of the best-known TV moms, Meredith Baxter is soaring to new heights -- where she hopes to help prevent and one day cure breast cancer.