'The legacy I want to leave:' Mother with Stage 4 cancer advocates for survivors

People around the world are observing National Cancer Survivor Day, an annual celebration held to honour patients who have been through the often difficult and traumatic experience of living with cancer.

To call the day she was first diagnosed with cancer "a pretty crazy day" might be putting it lightly, but it's how Lindsy Matthews describes the moment her life changed forever.

"When a nurse looks at you and says, 'I'm sorry, it's cancer,' the emotions bubble up inside of you," she told CTV News Channel on Sunday. "It's disbelief. I had a nervous giggle and then, of course, tears. Because you just know from that moment on, your life is no longer what you thought it would be."

As Matthews reflects on the beginning of her ongoing journey with cancer, people in countries around the world are observing National Cancer Survivors Day, an annual celebration held to honour patients who have been through the often difficult and traumatic experience of living with cancer.

In Canada, this group comprises a large segment of the population. The Canadian Cancer Society reports two in five Canadians are likely to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. According to a 2022 report jointly published by the Canadian Cancer Society and the Public Health Agency of Canada, more than 1.5 million people in this country were living beyond or with cancer in 2018, and the number grows each year.

Matthews is living both beyond and with cancer. That is, she was successfully treated for her breast cancer and declared a survivor; someone who had beaten the odds. Then it came back, and this time it was late-stage and metastatic.

"Unfortunately, I was one of the unlucky ones whose disease had progressed," she said. "So now that I'm living with the incurable form, I consider myself a cancer survivor because I'm currently surviving with cancer."

One important element of the Cancer Survivors Day movement is that it defines a cancer "survivor" as anyone living with a history of cancer — from the moment of diagnosis through the rest of their life. It advocates for patients like Matthews who are actively being treated for cancer, as well as those who are cancer-free.