I will add, at least for now,I will acknowledge all the dates -- surgery, end of chemo,,end of radiation, etc. That first year, it was hard to truly see or call myself a survivor,,but now 14 months out, I see I have been a survivor since the day they called me and awkwardly told me they found cancer in my biopsy.
I go with my diagnosis date. I've been surviving cancer since then--I'm counting it all, every minute of it. :-)
I'm going with the surgery date (7/6), but this is a personal choice. I chose this date for myself because the first time I met my medical oncologist, she said, "you're cancer-free. Chemotherapy is insurance." I guess radiation was insurance, too, but that's another topic of discussion. :)
My Onc advised it is really up to the patient what they consider Survivorship. We feel it is when we were diagnosed. At that point we are a survivor. Stage lV is what l am. We are never cancer free however, we can reach a point where we are NEAD (no evidence of active disease).
I was also told on the day of diagnosis, I like to celebrate on the day I was told I was cancer free, lol!!