Cancer is not a disease where you can simply say that you're cured. Remember the line of clinical detection? Treatments that kill cancer cells merely reduce the number of cancer cells below the line of clinical detection. There is no way you can know for sure whether of not you've got all the malignant cells.

That's why in cases of successful treatments, it is said that the cancer is in remission than cured with a certain percentage of it coming back depending again on the grade of cancer. The patient is required to undergo constant checkups in the subsequent years after remission, usually if the cancer does not come back after 5 years, the patient is considered cured.

Of course though, it doesn't mean you can't be weary. Some cancers can come back decades after they were deemed cured. Surviving cancer doesn't mean you're home free. It just means you have to spend the rest of your life making sure that it doesn't come back otherwise the next time you're not looking, it just might bite off more than you think.

This year Footsteps in the Mirror will be blogging to raise money for the Association for International Cancer Research which is a non-profit organisation that helps fund cancer research throughout the world. If you're willing to help, you can sign up on the Blogathon website and pledge your amount right here. Help make a difference, no matter how small it may be.