Being a young cancer survivor is a paradox. On the one hand you have a long life ahead of you. On the other hand because you're younger you'll have many years of testing to make sure there are no recurrences.

Once you've hit remission and maintenance, beating cancer becomes less about the physical battle and more about the mental and emotional one. They say you're a survivor from the day you're diagnosed, and I agree.

Most people assume that being done with treatment and declared cancer free means you no longer have a care in the world. That made me angry. I so badly wanted for them to understand what I was feeling inside mentally.

It's not easy for patients (or their loved ones) to cope with a diagnosis of cancer. But if that first reaction is tempered with the knowledge that you don't have to beat cancer in order to have a full life, then it becomes bad news that's somehow easier to take.

I almost feel silly, loving it all so much. Sometimes it's truly painful, in that amazing beautiful way that a really fantastic movie moves you to your core. It's almost too good to handle. That's how I feel about life. I want to wear it, eat it, smell it, share it. Thank you, cancer. I love you. And I hate you.

When people sometimes suggest that I've "beat" cancer, or that I've put it put it behind me, I never agree. Once you've had cancer, I say to them, its presence never strays far from your awareness.

Do you live as if remission will go on forever? Or do you allow the thought of death to be before your eyes always, so as not to waste a precious moment of life?