'Survivor' winner: I'm running the Boston marathon to celebrate 10 years of cancer remission. Cannabis helped get me here.

• Ethan Zohn was the winner of "Survivor: Africa" and a former professional soccer player.
• He's running the Boston Marathon to celebrate 10 years of living cancer-free.

The word "survivor" can mean a couple of things: someone who came out alive after a situation where others perished, or a person who copes well with challenges. I first identified as a survivor in 1989, after my dad died from cancer. I relied on my community to get me through. Thirteen years later, I used community connections to win the TV show "Survivor: Africa."

A decade after that, I faced my biggest challenge: surviving a rare form of blood cancer, CD20-positive Hodgkin's lymphoma, which I was diagnosed with at just 35 years old. I decided to celebrate one year in remission from cancer by running the 2013 Boston Marathon, where I again became a survivor, this time of the horrific bombing. Luckily, I was stopped two miles from the finish line.

This year, I'm returning to Boston again. When I cross the finish line, I'll be celebrating a major milestone: I'm 10 years free of cancer.

Life after cancer

When you survive cancer as a young person, you suddenly have your whole life ahead of you again. Cancer impacts your friends and fertility, your career, your hopes, and your dreams. I had to endure aggressive treatments to get where I am now, including two stem-cell transplants.

In early remission I found myself debilitated by anxiety, fear, and worry. I wasn't able to live a life I was proud of.

That's when cannabis became a huge part of my survivorship. I had heard about the benefits of cannabis for cancer side effects like nausea, but at the time the drug was still illegal. I remember purchasing cannabis from a drug dealer in New York and worrying because I didn't know where this product was grown or processed. When cannabis became legal in more states and the industry became more regulated, I felt comfortable experimenting on my body.

Cannabis helped with symptoms like anxiety, pain, and nausea that I otherwise would have relied on pharmaceuticals to handle. It helped me live a more balanced life, where I was able to see through my anxieties and manage the side effects of my treatments.

Balancing modern and alternative medicine

I will forever be grateful for modern medicine and advances in cancer treatment. Science couldn't save my dad, but it saved me.

Still, I didn't like that I reached a point during and after cancer treatment where my life revolved around pills and supplements. There were pills to wake up and pills to go to sleep; Advil after long runs; and caffeine shots to get through the last few miles.

Cannabis gave me a treatment option that was more aligned with my values and respect for nature. I never smoke marijuana, but I regularly consume edibles and use topical creams to soothe my sore muscles. I saw physical, mental, and emotional benefits when I incorporated them into my wellness routine.

Changing the conversation

The other pillar that supported me through cancer treatment and the anxiety that followed is exercise. As a former professional soccer player, I've always been passionate about movement. I measured my health by my fitness — how fast and far I could run or how many push-ups I could do.

Having an athlete's mindset, and the ability to dig deep, helped me when my health failed. By continuing to exercise, I was able to keep in touch with a part of myself that wasn't defined by cancer. That gave me a morale boost and may have even helped physically: Some research shows that exercise can improve outcomes for cancer patients.

I've seen the benefit of nontraditional treatments like cannabis and exercise firsthand. They have helped me survive, and I'm so grateful to be part of the conversation.

Ethan Zohn is a cancer survivor, public speaker, and entrepreneur. Follow him on Instagram at @ethanzohn.