06/13/2026
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻
𝗕𝘆 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗱
We cancer patients receive a unique gift. Yes, we know what it’s like to come too close to death, but we also know what it’s like to be reborn
I remember vividly the day I stepped outside the hospital -released at last from weeks of undergoing a bone marrow transplant
Oh, if that wonderful rush of the senses could be bottled, it would be worth a thousand times its weight in gold
It was a beautiful summer day, but beautiful is inadequate. The colors that day were turned up, as if I had been seeing with poor reception before. The scents in the air were almost overpowering. I could smell fresh-cut grass, growing flowers, traffic, food – I could smell the time of day. Morning smells different than evening or midday
The sounds rushed at me. Voices, no longer filtered or contained by hospital walls, had a different ring outside. I heard a dog bark, a horn honk, a child yell, shoes hitting pavement, and multiple conversations going on all around me. And the feeling- there was a slight breeze and I could feel my skin. It was almost as if the air itself had texture as it touched my face and arms. The sun, it warmed me from the outside in. Even walking felt different than it had in hospital corridors
Had the world always been like this, this alive? I vowed to always look at life this way, to never forget this moment
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Twenty years ago today at 10am, I was in UCLA Medical Center after intensive chemotherapy for Stage IV cancer. My blood counts were near zero, IV lines ran directly to my heart, and I underwent a bone marrow/stem cell transplant.
They call transplant day “Day Zero” — your rebirth day. Today is Day 7,304. My reborn cells are 20 years old.
Five years is a major milestone for cancer survivors, so twenty feels extraordinary.
I don’t know why I was given these extra days, but I can assure you I recognize each one of them as a gift and take none of it for granted
As Lance Armstrong said, “I only have good days and great days.” I understand that completely
Thank you for being part of my journey.
Today is a very special day for me.
