Nurse survivors face each new day with humor and hope

Oncology nurses have long been aware that surviving cancer is far more than a five- or ten-year marking of time. Cancer survivorship starts at the moment of diagnosis, a moment the survivor will recall forever. Today, more than eight million Americans are living and surviving with cancer--five million of them were diagnosed more than five years ago. The continuing challenge for oncology nurses is to assist patients not just to survive, but to thrive, in the continuing and ever-changing time following a cancer diagnosis.