I started calling my remission day my "Re-Birthday". First because it was easier to refer to, and second for fun. Remission is used in Cancer Terms to signify when someone has completed treatment, and there is no more cancer detected in the body. However, it is NOT the same as cured. Cancer cells may still exist in the body at levels that are undetectable, and there's a possibility that it could come back in the future. Recurrence is a terrifying thing to worry about within the first 5 years of remission. That's why it becomes so important for some of us. We mark it as a milestone. We move on with our lives, but we still mark that day, and how long it's been since we could get back onto our feet.
It's more than just saying your clear. It tends to feel that once treatment is over people snap back into their boats and forget that cancer is more than just chemotherapy. It's the post-chemo, and after care. The support is still very much important, if anything maybe more. That's why some of us celebrate remission. It helps us feel successful, and more than just our diagnosis, or our cancers.
Why do I call it a "re-birth day"? Well first it's the remission day, or remission birthday if you will, and also because in a way you're reborn. You start from scratch. Your body is essentially almost like a baby's, from your immune system, to your hair growing. It's a weird, or perhaps a tad twisted way of looking at it, but chemo does some things to you, there are ways we all find to cope and handle it all. It's a way to start fresh and feel some grasp onto our situations.
How to celebrate a remission day? It's different for everyone. Some may say "Oh hey, awsome, " and just celebrate the day happy. Some may plan a get together, and maybe for the bigger number of remission years really go out and make it an event. There's nothing wrong in it.
What's most important in someone in their remission path, is allowing them to feel the milestone. It's part of our lives now, we didn't ask for it, but we make our ways of living it. We lived, let us live it. Please don't just brush it off. We understand if the topic may make you feel uncomfortable, but it's a moment for us. If you don't understand it, ask us!
It becomes like a second birthday to some of us, because it's probably the most positive aspect out of everything we endured. We deserve some way of finding a source of happiness to take away the negative feelings.
Know someone who's about to mark their remission date? Send them a message saying "Happy Remission Day", or perhaps suprise them. Care even after cancer is important to us, and little things mean everything. We never expect anyone to say or do anything, but we wouldn't complain about a nice message either!
To my fellow cancer survivors about to mark their remissions, happy remission to you! Celebrate it well, and keep on proving you're more than your diagnosis. Looking for ways to celebrate? Get a tattoo, take a trip, buy a cake, maybe even spoil yourself a little. Plan a night out, or take a night off from work. Whatever you feel, make it be.
Remission isn't always easy, but we can mark it in our own little ways.
