Cancerversary: This Year I Decided To Celebrate Life Out Loud

Last Sunday was my cancerversary.

For anyone who doesn’t know what that means, a 'cancerversary' marks the day you were diagnosed, the day you finished treatment, or maybe the day you heard the words “No evidence of disease.” For me, it’s the day everything changed. The day time got split into before and after. A date etched into memory not because it was easy to remember, but because it refused to be forgotten.

In the beginning, I dreaded it. I wanted to hide away and wake up after it was all over. But here’s what I’ve learned: hiding from the date doesn’t make it less real. Ignoring it doesn’t erase the scars, the fear, or the strength it took to keep going.

So this year, I chose differently.

This year, wanted to do something amazing to celebrate being ALIVE.

Not because I need to prove anything. Not because I have something to tick off a bucket list. But because I am still here, and that is worth celebrating in big, bold, beautiful ways.

So I said yes to taking part in the Keswick Mountain Festival - cycling the 20km route of the team Sprint Triathlon and then running a 10km trail run the next day.

Finishing the 10km run

Maybe for you, it’s hiking a mountain you thought you’d never climb. Maybe it’s finally booking that trip or signing up for that art class you kept putting off. Maybe it’s a tattoo, a skydive, or just a long weekend with your favourite people, laughing too hard and eating dessert first.

Whatever it is, let it be something that reminds you how alive you are.

Cancer took a lot, but it gave me one thing I never expected: urgency. A clearer sense that our time here is limited and precious and not to be spent waiting for the perfect moment. There is no perfect moment. There is only now. And now is good enough.

So if your cancerversary is coming up — or you’re marking someone else’s — I hope you’ll do something that makes your heart race. Not with fear this time, but with joy. Do something wild or weird or wonderful. Do something just for you.

Because you’ve been through hell and you’re still standing.

Because this day matters.

Because you matter.

And that is always worth celebrating.