But for Linda Bullent it means everything. When she woke up on her 50^th birthday she was absolutely ecstatic about clocking up half a century.

This time last year she didn’t know whether she’d make the milestone after a regular check up revealed her cancer had returned and spread to seven parts of her body, including her brain and lymph nodes. 

She had just participated in the City to Surf and couldn’t believe what was happening inside her when she felt so fit and well. 

It was even harder news to take after a battle with breast cancer in 2014 had left her in remission. 

But it wasn’t long before Linda’s mindful attitude and bubbly personality came flying out.

She started focusing on each moment, instead of living in the past or worrying about the future, and devoted her energy to raising money to help find a cure for breast cancer. 

That fierce game face, which she refers to as Team Tiger, is what’s kept her going along with a strong treatment regime and huge support from family and friends. 

And news a few days before her birthday that her tumours are stable, have shrunk or disappeared, has bolstered her spirits. 

“The results at the last scan were really encouraging; I’m not out of the woods, I’m not cured, It just means that the chemo is working in my body and at the moment it’s being controlled,” Ms Bullent said.

“We were all bouncing around on cloud nine. My cancer is going to respond to the chemo and then work its way around it but we take all of those positives that we can.”

Linda and her family held a fun day to raise money in December.

Ms Bullent celebrated her birthday with a huge party surrounded by family and friends.

She didn’t want any presents. Instead she asked guests to donate to her $30,000 fundraising target for cancer research.

“It was amazing, honestly, I couldn’t put it into words, to be relatively fit and well a year on is beyond what I was hoping for so it’s been amazing for the whole family,” Ms Bullent said.

She has raised more than $28,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation, UK Breast Cancer Foundation and more than $800 for the Mark Hughes Foundation. 

She is $445 short of her $30,000 goal.

One of her friends has stepped in to help get her over the line. She will soon celebrate her 60^th birthday and has asked for breast cancer donations instead of presents. 

“It’s brilliant, and so lovely of her to do that for me,” she said. “We will get to the $30,000 without a doubt.”

When Ms Bullent was initially diagnosed a woman who was having chemotherapy in the same ward had raised $20,000 so the hospital could buy a machine.

“I don’t want to keep dipping from the same pool all the time, my friends and family have been so generous. I need to find a way to raise money that’s not calling on the same people all the time,” she said.

Ms Bullent is confident she’ll be celebrating Christmas with her family.

“It’s a realistic goal, so I’m looking to that for sure, then getting through 2018 will be the next challenge,” she said. 

"I’ve learnt I am stronger than I thought I would be. I’m very happy that I’ve tried to be positive where I can, and my family, god love them, they are amazing, you see the best in people when you are facing adversity.”

Ms Bullent said her fundraising, treatment and work pursuits were helping to keep her on track.

“Because I am positive and raising money and still trying to keep going it’s lifesaving for me, it keeps me going when I’ve got these things to focus on,” she said. 

“I’m happy with being the way I am now.”

“The hypnotherapist gave me this line that I love and it is ‘only water what you seek to grow’ – I think that is a great thing to stand by. I try and live by that, I try to focus on the good and the positives,” she said. 

“If I wake up in the morning and I feel good, then that’s a good day.

“Once you start feeling negative and sad and sorry for yourself you start feeling ill, and I don’t want to feel like that.”

Ms Bullent urged anyone battling cancer to keep their spirits high.

“You’ve got to try to be positive. There is hope until there is no hope. You have to focus on yourself and not focus on the negatives,” she said.