Cancer is such an impersonal word. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it is A serious disease caused by cells that are not normal and that can spread to one or many parts of the body. Whats missing from that definition, however, is the raw, all-too-human experience of the people whose cells have turned against them. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, husbands, and wives whose lives have been divided into two distinct periods: BCbefore cancer, and ACafter cancer. The patientsand their familieswho go to bed at night fearful and anxious, and once the fog of sleep has lifted, are filled with the very same fears and anxieties. As all the things they thought were important recede into the background, simply living becomes all that matters. I know Ive been there.

Its no secret why Ive made the fight against cancer my mission. Having lost my first husband, Jay, and my sister, Emily, to colon and pancreatic cancer, respectively, I have two very good reasons to stand up. Ive spent the last several weeks posting photographs of people affected by cancer on my social media accounts .