FOR Natasha Taylor, life is looking pretty good. She's enjoying being a wife to husband Paul and mum to their two sons, has a third child due in September and is the founder of a successful charity.

But things weren't always so rosy - Natasha was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia just a month after giving birth to youngest son Alfie, now two.

She spent six months confined to a hospital ward, but was eventually sent home after beating the disease.

Natasha was one of the lucky ones. In fact, more and more people are fighting cancer and winning these days - research by Macmillan Cancer Support shows there are now two million cancer survivors living in the UK.

The figure is a massive increase on previous figures, despite the prevalence of the disease in England currently increasing at a rate of 3.2 per cent per year, and proves that there is indeed life after cancer.

Paula Bull, from Southbourne, is a prime example of someone who has thrown herself into her life having undergone treatment for breast cancer.

The 63-year-old worked as a cancer care nurse for more than 30 years, so was shocked when she was diagnosed with the disease herself.

Paula underwent a total mastectomy and chemotherapy three years ago but was still feeling "wretched" until fairly recently, due to the joint swellings caused by her anti-cancer medication, which she is still taking.

However, since joining a special exercise programme at the Littledown Centre, Paula admits her life is actually more active now than it was before her diagnosis.

"To me, that has been the miracle," she said."The Littledown Centre has given me an enormous amount of support. I go three times a week, I'm moving around and I think my body now is stronger and better than before.

"It has given my life back to me."

Paula is now actively involved with the Dorset Cancer Network, attending meetings locally and nationally, and is also a member of the Pink Champagne Dragon Boat team, which trains weekly at Poole Park.

"My life is really very full," she said.

"It's been a journey that I would rather not have taken, but in the last six months I do feel that my life is now improving again.

"Having cancer closes some doors but, believe-you-me, it opens a lot of other doors and often they're doors that you never thought you would go through."

For Natasha, the door that opened led to the creation of her own charity, Leukaemia Educating and Fundraising (Leaf), which she set up to offer help and support to others suffering from the disease.

She established the organisation from her hospital bed and it has now grown to include a website, a holiday scheme, hospital visits and counselling.

But Natasha is pushing for even more. She wants to see patients given more emotional and practical support when they leave hospital, something she thinks is currently missing from the NHS.

Her feelings echo those of Macmillan, which, in light of its recent research, is calling for health trusts and local authorities to provide a "comprehensive package of care" for all survivors.

"I would never run the NHS down - because of them I'm alive," said Natasha. "The support in hospital was fantastic. But it was like, You've been treated, you're going home'. That's it. I was left on my own and it was as hard when I went home as when I was in hospital.

"You've got all the nurses in hospital, all you have to do is buzz. But at home you're petrified, you feel very vulnerable. I thought I could go home and be a mum to the kids, but I got home and couldn't even cook a meal and I did get a bit of depression."

Natasha is now focusing, through Leaf, on getting patients cleaners, counsellors and help with cooking meals once they return home.

But home life, for her, is now "fantastic - touch wood", she says.

"Life after cancer, there's two ways with it," she added. "There's the Thank God I've survived' - you feel the luckiest person in the world and it does make you feel differently. But then there comes the other side - the other day a bruise came up on my leg and I thought it was the cancer back.

"It does make you paranoid with the children as well - when they get a cough then I think it's lung cancer. Before, you kind of think you're invincible.

"You do have days when you think Please don't come back', but the good points outweigh the bad."