As I begin writing this column I find myself climbing in the air at 24000 feet. I am returning to Nashville from New York - where I spoke at a Cancer Summit put on by the Congressman from the 29th district in conjunction with the Attending Physician of the United States Congress and Rear Admiral Dr. Brian Monahan. As a two-time cancer survivor and the founder of a non-profit pediatric cancer foundation, I was honored to be asked to speak in front of some of the nation´s more predominant physicians and researchers who represent the fight against this disease.

Dr. Monahan spoke about the push President Obama has made for a cure against cancer. He gave amazing statistics of where we were in this fight, the progress made, and finally, where we need to go. As I listened and learned, I realized I was also there to represent cancer survivors of all ages - not just children.

Discussions also began on how we could continue to focus attention on this terrible disease and create a call to action to support the President. As you can imagine, much of the talk was on cancer, politics and money. The discussions, while sometimes frustrating, were overall very positive. Finally - as all the political rhetoric was being thrown around - something dawned on me. That´s when I raised my hand and said, "Yes, it takes money to get things done, but it never took money to create a movement." From civil rights to President Kennedy´s call to land a man on the moon, the power of the people is an amazing thing to harness. And that is what we need to do to win the war against cancer.

There are many eye-opening statistics that point to the fact that cancer knows no boundaries. For example, when it comes to age, by the year 2020, the senior population will experience a 50 per cent increase in cancer incidents. Meanwhile, physicians who specialize in treating geriatric cancer will increase by only 15 per cent. This stunned me - not only as a health care professional in the senior living field - but also as a daughter of two aging parents.

As I found myself continuing to listen, something really amazing happened. I realized there was more depth to myself than I had given myself credit for. As a two-time cancer survivor, the disease has been a part of my life and will continue to be part of my life until I am no longer on this earth. But in the meantime, what can I continue to do to help the senior population as well as celebrate my survivorship?

Then I remembered my own words. We have got to create a movement. If we are successful maybe it will inspire our young medical students and residents to focus on us''the senior population. Or perhaps it will convince researchers and drug companies to devote more clinical trials for geriatric cancer.

As I gave my speech, I found myself not looking at the notes I had worked so hard to prepare. I began to create that movement for all ages with my voice of passion. Once I was done, I was honored to be asked to take my voice and my passion against cancer to Washington D.C. and speak before Congress.

If you are a cancer survivor, here´s to you! And today, I was honored to speak for you. I will also speak tomorrow and the next day and the next until we are able to finally to create the movement to stop cancer in its tracks completely.

The movement? Survivors who have a voice in our nation.