06:05 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 19, 2006

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

Today there are nearly 10 million cancer survivors in the United States, a number that is growing thanks to breakthroughs in early detection and treatments.

It's estimated each of us faces a more than one in three risk of getting cancer. But today, the diagnosis doesn't always mean a death sentence. For many, cancer is a chronic disease - much like diabetes or high blood pressure.

Barbara Wilson loves to travel with family - and stay active

"I go to the gym three days a week and walked three miles the other day," she said.

Yoga is Clark Wang's passion.

"Yoga really helps me with stress control and relaxation," he said.

KING

Clark Wang practices yoga to help deal with non Hodgkin's lymphoma.

These are two people pursuing what makes them happy, despite a diagnosis of cancer.

"I currently have metastatic breast cancer - it is not in remission it is there," Wilson said.

Clark is in his second year of remission with non Hodgkin’s lymphoma, while Barbara's battle has stretched over a decade.

More and more cancer is becoming a chronic disease, but it's not the death sentence that it was a generation ago. That has triggered a whole new set of issues, like lingering side effects from treatment. Fatigue and memory problems have kept Clark from returning to work.

"So I’ve been benched as a result of my treatment which I had to do to save my life," he said.

Yoga is helping him regain strength and a growing body of research finds such activities can make a big difference.

"Different mind body programs, yoga meditation, involving acupuncture many other complimentary treatments are critically important to the survivorship issue," said Dr. Lorenzo Cohen PhD, a cancer researcher.

Mental health is another key issue. Barbara credits volunteer work with helping keep her mind off her disease. And it certainly hasn't slowed her down.

“The miracle of survivors is I’m living a perfectly normal life -- in the past year I’ve been to Peru, Ecuador and Ireland!” she said.

A national effort is now under way to create a survivor care plan to help guide cancer survivors through the years after treatment, covering everything from health insurance to legal rights.