I'm now a statistic. Added to being a Jewish American female from New York, I am now a cancer survivor. I've wanted to be many things. I never thought this would be one of them.

There is a saying that bothers me a little bit. You know the one; "everything happens for a reason." I have a hard time believing that the awful things that happen in the world were somehow meant to happen. What I can accept is that we learn from what happens.

I don't usually rant, but today a message appeared in my Facebook inbox that has me steaming. When I rank "how to help those of us with cancer," sharing one of these paragraphs as a status update is the lowest possible method of showing support.

I should be arrested for writing something so awful. It feels somehow that if I write this, it will become reality. Everyone knows you must stay positive. You must lead your mind, and thus your body, where you want to go. And yet, I have found my thoughts wandering toward this dark place.

For women living with breast cancer, the holidays are a fraught time. On the one hand, all the preparation, planning, shopping, company parties and family gatherings can serve as a great distraction to keep your mind off cancer. On the other hand, it can be downright exhausting.

My fight against breast cancer began in 2003 during the holiday season. Amidst the hustle, bustle and shouts of "Merry Christmas," it was difficult to be cheerful, to say the least.

I realize now how many times I had driven past buildings where people were being treated and had no idea. I became one of those people. I stand back, looking at the year that has passed, and still struggle to find the words to describe it.

"Whenever I need to feel lifted away from the fear, horror and pain of breast cancer, humor is the first place I turn."

We must change the public global conversation about breast cancer from awareness and screening to prevention and saving lives.

When I discovered my own breast cancer, I immediately felt condemned to the journey my mother had walked almost 30 years before.