Gratitude is currently a hot topic within the cancer community, but in my view it’s not the cancer itself that suddenly bestows a person with gratitude. A major cancer diagnosis does often causes you to view the world differently—things that once seemed enormously important may lose significance and become almost trivial. Personally, I’ve discovered that physical attractiveness, material possessions and social status all matter less to me now. These things frequently seem to fade into irrelevance as I confront a life-threatening illness. Meanwhile, my relationships with other people, discovering ways that I can make a difference in the world and learning more about the essence of who I am are currently at the forefront of my agenda and have an extremely high priority to me at the moment.

Since my cancer diagnosis six years ago, I’ve been required to think about my mortality. I’ve also had to tend to many practical matters that I didn’t anticipate that I’d have to deal with until I was much older. While everyone around me carries on with their lives, I’ve had to stop and reflect on some of the deeper questions of life that others have the luxury of ignoring. Individuals diagnosed with cancer often find themselves contemplating existential questions. Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life? Who am I? These issues are brought to the forefront of your mind when facing a potentially deadly disease. Sometimes I feel frustrated by the fact that most things that my friends and family care about seem fairly trivial to me now. For example, they got cut off in traffic, they had a disagreement with a co-worker or their favorite esthetics studio is getting ready to raise its prices.

I’ve come to the conclusion that cancer itself doesn’t make us see what’s meaningful; we see it when our attention turns away from the small and trivial distractions that surround us. Taking life for granted is essentially our culturally-induced default mode — we are trained to overlook the essential. As a cancer survivor I’ve ultimately been freed from this monotonous, addictive cycle.

These days I’m grateful for:

• The oncologists who oversaw my case, especially my surgeon. I remain in awe of the fact that they literally saved my life, I’m grateful that the practice of medicine is what each of my doctors has chosen as their profession. “Whatever it is in oncologists that makes them want to be oncologists—that crazy mix of fierceness, optimism, arrogance and compassion—I get a contact high from it. It’s like love at first sight or touching something on fire. It’s like making a choice and refusing to look back,” observed Nina Riggs in her memoir The Bright Hour.
• The nurses who were with me 24/7 in the hospital. I established a bond with several of the nurses when, at one point, complications forced me to spend seven consecutive weeks on the cancer unit. Weeks in cancer time feel like years, even decades, but the magnificent staff somehow helped me pull through.
• People who donate blood. Many cancer patients require blood due to surgery or chemotherapy. I needed several transfusions during my treatment. Each time they hung a unit I remember thinking that I was being given “the gift of life” from a complete stranger.
• The arrival of spring after a long hard winter. The sense of renewal or rebirth that is associated with spring has been heightened for me now that I’ve become a cancer survivor. I appreciate the small wonders like a pair of finches building a nest in our yard and the poppies that bloom in the garden each June.
• Each morning when I wake up and become conscious that my disease is in remission and that I’m lying in my own bed. I give a sigh of relief when I discover that I’m not in the hospital and there is no need to drive to the cancer centre for chemotherapy or a checkup.

And gratitude, finally, for the readers of these posts. I am grateful that I get to share my ovarian cancer journey with you and, in turn, get to hear your stories.