National Cancer Survivors Day - 12 Million Reasons to Celebrate Life

America’s 12 million cancer survivors observed the 22nd annual National Cancer Survivors Day on Sunday.  Hundreds of communities across America and around the world hosted events to celebrate life. There were picnics, dinners, parties and inspiring stories about facing life-threatening adversity.

At every event, there was one essential message about living with cancer.  “This is not a death sentence,” says Susan Sheehan, a breast cancer survivor from Palm Desert, California.  “More people with cancer are living longer," says Sheehan, a mother and grandmother. "You just have to take it one day at a time.”

By the year 2020, according to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 20 million Americans will be cancer survivors.  And many of them will learn the wisdom of Susan Sheehan: “I live my life one day at a time,” she says.  “I don't make my life about, ‘Oh my God, I have cancer.'”

The non-profit National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation supports hundreds of hospitals, support groups, and other cancer-related organizations that host National Cancer Survivors Day events in their communities, by providing free guidance, education and networking. Its primary mission is to educate the public on the issues of cancer survivorship in order to better the quality of life for cancer survivors.

For more about surviving cancer, please visit The Survivors Club Health Support Center.