Turning 26 today, a few things to say.

1) Birthdays cause me mixed feelings. I can't stop feeling like I have lost 5 years of my life (19-24) fighting cancer. Birthdays are a reminder that I have been the victim of what feels like an irreparable injustice, and I don't seem to be wise enough to find peace about it.

2) Due to the treatments I have received, I am very likely to die at a not-that-old age. I won't die tomorrow, but I most likely won't reach retirement either. That is insufferable to me. I am as ambitious as it gets.

Be it personally or professionally, there is so much that I need to do. I always feel like I am running out of time. If I were a Musical character I'd be Hamilton. Birthdays are a reminder of that deadline and I feel the irrepressible need to do more and more. It's never enough.

3) Notwithstanding points 1 & 2, I like birthdays because I'm aware I shouldn't be getting them at all. 3 years ago, I had severe hepatic failure due to the latest treatment I'd received for my 4th occurrence of cancer. I was dying, I was told so, my parents were told so.

I just didn't have long, I wasn't responding to the medicine.
But I kept living, I moved to Britanny to be with my partner, I kept studying law, I took driving lessons, I attended my sister's wedding. I just kept living. And I miraculously started to respond to the medicine.

Better, my liver recovered. Better again, my immune system got me into remission on its own. I have been on remission ever since. Birthdays remind me of that, every year I get is a bonus, and I need to live my life the best way I can to enjoy it. Nothing else matters.

That means : with love, fun, friends and family, everything I love I have to do. That includes training as a barrister because I genuinely love it. But it also includes playing video games, reading all night long like a kid defying curfew, singing out loud in the car, etc...

Now here comes the crux of this thread, I'd like to emphasize the only reason I am cancer-free is thanks to the bone marrow transplant I have received. There is a lot to say about bone marrow transplants.

There is only one in a million chances that someone who is not a blood relative will be a match. 80% of the donations are not surgeries anymore but akin to blood donation instead. If you'd like to make me a birthday present, please read about becoming a donor, it's essential.

And please share the knowledge around you. I wouldn't be here without this procedure, I cherish my new bone marrow. Be the person that makes this gift to someone else if you can, and encourage others to do it too. You can find all the information here : https://www.bbmr.co.uk/joining-the-register/

4) Today I am also saying goodbye to my grandfather at his funeral. To this man I owe the confidence that I can achieve anything, and from reading this thread, you know that I indeed can.