I have read all kinds of material on increasing your odds for survival and how to keep cancer from returning. Odds of returning. Odds of surviving. To me that all sounds like taking bets at a horse track. At one time in the medical profession, the five year mark for being cancer free was the milestone to claim you beat the disease and that you are a true survivor. Five years to me didn't seem too long. I could do that. Five years later seemed like an eternity to me after my bladder cancer returned 22 months after my first diagnoses. Even more so after the third recurrence of bladder cancer and two lumps having to be removed from my breast 16 months later after finishing up my second round of treatments. Coming up on my 36 month anniversary in 10 days for being clean, can I not consider myself a survivor?

I have a friend that went through a double mastectomy for breast cancer while she was in her twenties and she is now in her forties. She is definitely a survivor. I have a friend who just finished treatments a month ago and to me she is just as much a survivor as the first. I also have two dear friends that passed with cancer after a 6 and 8 month battle. But for a duration of time, they were surviving.

Being a victim to this disease is very clear. It is when we are diagnosed and our lives change instantly on our vulnerability, our strength, and our mind set. And sometimes it means death. So when can we claim ourselves to be survivors?

Well in my humble opinion we are all survivors from when we are first diagnosed to whatever stage or time period we are in right now. We are living so we are surviving. We are facing the beast head on and going day to day in the activities of our lives.  Keeping a positive mind set is one of the best ways to deal with everything that gets thrown at you from the first time you hear "You have cancer."

So this is my mind set. I was a survivor one day after being diagnosed in 1998, and I have continued being a survivor although the cancer returned twice. I fight it. I am alive. I am a survivor. And so are you no matter what stage you are in facing this disease. You are alive so you are a survivor. You have the ability to create your own mind set. Whether your attitude is positive or negative, is up to you. So tell yourself that you are a survivor and keep that in your mind so you can over come all the hurdles that life puts in front of you every day you face the sunrise off in the horizon.