Lance Armstrong

[Quijote]

I had to share this with everyone. I just finished reading Lance Armstrong's biography "its not about the bike" and its inspiring'. for those that don't know, Lance developed testicular cancer and was given little chance of recovery. He did recover and went onto win the tour France several times. A grueling bicycle race. His story is of hope no matter what the odds and of transformation through the cancer journey. It also highlights the bond within the cancer community. take care, be strong.

[lsmith]

I am an almost 9 year survivor and have read  Lance's books.  As a group facilitator, his books are the ones I always recommend to members.  To have faced the challenges he did, with an amazing attitude and a never give in philosophy, he truly is an inspiration and great motivator for us all.  The work he does today through his foundation is a credit to him.  A great advocate for all of us in this special club.  Hope and yellow have  a new meaning because of Lance.  Stay strong, stay focused and LiveStrong everyone. Lyn    

[#3]

I'm a cyclist and a massive fan of Lance. His story is inspiring to me, not for what he did on the bike (great as it was), but for the unbelievable job he does at using his fame and fortune to further and promote the war on cancer. Someone may win the TdF 7 times in the future but his status as an inspiring cancer fighting pioneer will never be in doubt. "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit however, it lasts forever." - Lance Armstrong LiveStrong everybody!

[Jules_68]

Thank you and Thank you. I have picked up Lance's bio "it not about the bike" from library and looking forward to reading and being inspired. I have also found another book which is really hitting the notes with me, "from this moment on" by arlene cotter. I was driving home from the library and TODAY I thought, "im not a victim Im a survivor", since joining the survivors c-connect I have been doing one thing wrong, I have had the mind set of a VICTIM.........Yes a lightbulb moment for ME..........I have been CHOOSING VICTIM however i am now EARNING SURVIVOR.......Thank you Quijote for sharing. Jules

[harker]

Isn't it interesting how we can all see things so differently. The Lance Armstrong book really got up my nose. I found his aggression quite off-putting and I wonder what effect it has had on the community outside cancer. I think he encourages a view that one must 'fight' cancer and 'win' some kind of 'battle'. Jane McGrath's pre-recorded final words were sadly full of that sort of rubbish. At one stage he says 'Cancer sure picked the wrong body' or words to that effect. Really, Lance? You were not kidding me one little bit. Anyway, Sally Jenkins wrote the book. (That was me being a bitch.) H

[Annie333]

Hey great book! My physiotherapist recommended this book to me years ago. I wasn't ready to read it until last year. I too got the feeling he was battling quite hard against cancer. I guess everyone sees cancer differently. It can be your enemy or friend. When I say friend I mean an eye opener to slow down and let you know you need a break. In my case, 3 times it told me to slow down. So I did for the healing process. So cancer is seen differently by everyone and fought against in different ways. What ever works. :)

[Sailor]

G'day Harker, I'm with you. Lance Armstrong and his whole foundation get right up my nose. His words "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit however, it lasts forever." are absolute rubbish. It is saying that those who end up with chronic pain are quitters and have themselves to blame. If pain responsible from trauma does not subside, and it will not it unless it is managed properly, then it becomes chronic - the nerves get used to sending the pain messages and you are stuck with it. You can either undergo expensive Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, or you can use analgesics like morphine for the rest of your life. So it is important that pain is not ignored, but is managed properly. Pain should be one of the vital signs that are monitored when you are in hospital, it should be on the agenda of every multidisciplinary team meeting, it should be part of all correspondence between specialist and GP's. If you continue to have pain you are not a quitter, you just have not had good pain management. I do not know what stage or how advanced Lance's testicular cancer was. But I do know that in his age group it is essentially a curable cancer - it has become so over the last forty years due to better surgery and better drug therapy, particularly combinations using the platinum drugs. Now he may have had very advanced disease, but if that is the case then he was suffering enormous medical neglect, which I doubt would be the case with an elite athlete. Like you Harker, I object to the use of a military metaphor, as the flip side of that is if you don't get over it you didn't fight hard enough - what rubbish. If you want to read some inspiring books there are far better ones out there. Ones that show people creating a new life for themselves, one that includes their cancer and being really inspiring. If you are bitchy Harker, so am I so let's do it together. Cheers Sailor An incorrectly identified mark is a hazard, not an aid, to navigation. Alton B. Moody

[harker]

And for a book called 'It's not about the bike' there sure is a lot of grandstanding about being a sporting here. I found it to be quite deceitful.

[exhausted]

Wow, I just love this place where we are all free to say what we mean. Fantastic. Iam so with your thoughts about fighting not really equaling winning. Its like the ding dong who tells you your christian faith isn't strong enough. Buls..t.

[Jules_68]

Hi everyone, I started to read Lance Armstrong "It's not about the bike" and didn't get past page 20. I actually didn't continue with the book, but went in the opposite direction and am reading and underlining phases from Louise Hay "The power within you". I believe Lance's book would have been a great read for me at diagnosis and before surgery as it is really aggressive and "you won't beat me" attitude, but now that Im 3mths post cancer, I find that i am sensitive to aggression and its important for me to find "my" own affirmations". Thank you for your opinions and knowledge, as it made me stop and assess what healing information I wanted to accept. I so love this site that we are all secure enough to participate "our" thoughts. Thanks everyone.