Should I focus on my adversity in my Canadian med school applications?

[MedOneDay10]

I was diagnosed with Leukemia in my senior year of high school (2017) and spent the next year as an inpatient at the hospital. I was fortunate enough to still be able to graduate and attend university in the fall. However, I was still in recovery and so I took a reduced course load but would still often struggle with fatigue and occasional health complications. Although I don't regret my decision to start school so soon after treatment as I believe it greatly helped my recovery, it definitely was not good for my grades. In addition to this, I now have a 1.5 year gap where I participated in no extracurricular activities, which I believe negatively affects my application.

My time in the hospital was rather traumatic with high dose chemo, extended stays in the ICU, and a few "close calls". But negatives aside, I considered this to be an excellent opportunity to learn about the field of healthcare from the patient perspective and further drove my passion for medicine. I am now thrilled to say that I have been in remission for the past 5 years!

Although I don't expect my cancer diagnosis to be my golden ticket into med school, I do consider it to be something that is quite unique. In previous apps I have mostly wrote about the positives of the experience and what I learned, while also trying to garner a bit of sympathy if I'm being completely honest, but I'm just wondering if this is the best approach. I have also included my cancer diagnosis in the application section where you mention any extenuating circumstances that may have affected your application (reduced EC hours).

Do med schools even consider this as a positive experience and factor it into their decision? What might be the best way to portray this experience to med admissions?

I would really appreciate any feedback on this! I understand that we don't really know exactly what med admissions looks for, but I'm open to opinions!

P.S. I am not sensitive about this topic so feel free to ask away!

[Bambi]

Sympathy is entirely irrelevant and truthfully, not a consideration! However, not only does your unique situation properly explain your lack of ECs during this period, the gap and reduced course load, but your experience is valuable in giving you compassion, empathy and insight to the mindset of a patient, indeed, this is sort of a EC that nobody wishes to have; and your experience gives you a valuable preparation for dealing with patients. 

Assuming you are a competitive applicant in terms of GPA, I think you will do fine!  I would be happy to review your work product as you move forward with your application.