Jan Adrian has fought cancer so many times, and with so many weapons, that she has trouble tracking her own medical history.

Her first diagnosis came in 1989 after she discovered a lump in her breast. Six times in the past 15 years, her cancer has returned.

But Adrian is anything but discouraged.

"It hasn't killed me," she says. "I'm still here." Not only surviving, Adrian insists, but thriving.

For Adrian, and for a growing number of medical professionals, treatment for serious illnesses means paying attention to the mind as well as the body.

"We are all going to die someday," Adrian says. "But nurturing my spirit by meditating or praying or going out in nature allows me to focus my energy on living rather than being afraid of death."

That message will be delivered by a variety of inspirational speakers and performers Sept. 11-12 at a conference in Sacramento. Among those scheduled for the free event at Memorial Auditorium are a Chinese qigong master diagnosed with "terminal" cancer in 1982, a Mill Valley minister and author of four books, a cancer survivor and humorist, a nutritionist with a special interest in cancer patients, and the Sugar Plump Fairies, a group of Rubenesque singers and dancers from Auburn. Each of the participants places an emphasis on living life to the fullest each day, regardless of diagnosis or prognosis or stage of illness.

Adrian 's nonprofit company, Healing Journeys, organized the Cancer as a Turning Point conference, which is sponsored by the UC Davis Cancer Center. People with cancer or other serious illnesses, as well as their families, friends and caretakers, are invited to attend.

Healing Journeys grew out of Adrian's frustrating search for emotional and spiritual support after her first cancer diagnosis. The maiden conference, held in Monterey in 1994, attracted about 150 people.

"Responses were so positive that I felt I had to keep going," says Adrian, a former businesswoman who is trained as a psychiatric social worker. "People told me the conference changed their lives."

Now the gatherings typically draw audiences of more than 1,000, many of them returnees.

Adrian , 62, whose treatment regimens have included radiation, surgery and chemotherapy, does not advocate abandoning traditional therapies, nor does she endorse any particular medical approaches. But she does believe that emotions and attitudes can have an effect on illness.

"I'm not saying that our attitudes cause cancer," or that patients can laugh themselves to good health, she says. "The most important thing for me is the realization that there is more to me than just my body. I am also a spirit, and that spirit will continue after my body goes."

Once considered a fringe concept, the notion that psychology and spirituality can play an important role in healing is becoming more widely accepted, said Jeanine Stiles, an associate director of the UC Davis Cancer Center.

"In Western medicine, scientists want research and significant data to substantiate things," Stiles says. "We don't have that yet. But you would have to have your head in the sand to think that there is not a connection between people's mental and spiritual well-being and their healing process."

Dr. James Bourgeois, a UC Davis psychiatrist who has worked with cancer patients, says the subject deserves further research.

At least two studies have shown that cancer patients treated for psychological problems survive longer, he says. And anecdotal evidence suggests that people who engage in "meaningful activities" and have strong social connections do better physically, says Bourgeois.

"Certainly the idea is more accepted than it was in the past," he says. "But it's still a very complicated topic. There are so many variables."

Bourgeois says he encourages patients to take part in programs and activities that make them feel better emotionally. "It only becomes problematic when patients decide to do these things and forgo standard treatment," he says.

Adrian, who got her last cancer diagnosis nearly three years ago, says she no longer lives in fear of the disease. If it does surface again, she says, she is confident she will be able to cope.

"It's not so scary anymore," she says. "When you have peace of mind and a strong spirit, you are equally preparing for both life and death. I know that death is not the end of me."

Cancer as a Turning Point

WHEN: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 11 -- 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sept. 12.
WHERE: Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
COST: Free
ARCHIVED INFORMATION: Sacramento Conference 2004

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