VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A cancer diagnosis is a scary one that can be crippling and defeating. There’s a Virginia Beach man who’s proving that it doesn’t have to be that. In fact, he’s using his diagnosis to help other people.

“Win the Day” is one of Frank McKenna’s personal mottos.

“Even if you don’t win a certain day, you can get up tomorrow and win that day,” said McKenna.

It’s the message he shares with his virtual workout class, which is not your typical exercise group.

McKenna is also not your typical personal trainer. He’s fighting cancer, and so is everyone who takes his class.

“When I had the diagnosis of stage four lung cancer, it was definitely a shock,” McKenna said. “Being a personal trainer, eating well, trying to stay in good shape. It turns out it was a mutation I have since I never smoked, it was a genetic mutation.”

McKenna was diagnosed in 2016. It took a few tries, but doctors found a targeted therapy that worked for him.

“As I started to gain my strength and get my weight back and get my energy, that’s when it was time for me, because I was thriving, to give back and do something more,” McKenna said.

He got certified as a cancer exercise specialist.

“It gives me that extra special knowledge and training that when I’m working with people with various cancers, I can be more aware of what they’re going through,” McKenna said.

He partnered with Stephanee Howell, a retired ICU nurse and yoga therapist. She owns Yoga from the Heart.

Together, they created “Wellness Beyond Cancer.”

“This class has been a dream of mine for almost four years now,” said McKenna.

They launched the class this fall, in the middle of the pandemic. Twice a week, a group of people in their cancer journey meet virtually.

That includes Lisa Buswell, who was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in 2015.

“It was invasive in the right breast, as well as in several lymph nodes, so that immediately started me down the path of chemotherapy, targeted medications, double mastectomy,” said Buswell.

A nurse at Sentara recommended the fitness class to Buswell, who gets creative in her home gym.

“I literally, for the first two weeks, used a small Amazon box instead of the yoga block that was suggested. I don’t know if Stephanee knows that,” Buswell said.

She says the class not only helps her physically, but the yoga and meditation helps her mentally and emotionally.

The class also creates a special community.

“Everyone might be at different fitness levels and yet we’re all able to come together and figure out what starting point works for us,” Buswell said.

What also works for them is learning from someone like McKenna, who truly understands their experiences and refuses to quit.

“Yes, cancer is a diagnosis, but it’s a diagnosis that we can live through,” said McKenna. “It’s a diagnosis that we can fight, it’s a diagnosis that we can constantly try to defeat, and try to get the best of and not let cancer get the best of us, but we need to make the best of our lives with cancer.”

McKenna is truly a man on a mission to help everyone win their day.

Once this first class “graduates” from the program, they will be able to participate in a weekly class.

The next group starts up in early 2021. You can find more information here.