The Lance Armstrong Foundation - Live Strong: Inspirational Stories from Cancer Survivors-From Diagnosis to Treatment and Beyond

Contents
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Samantha Eisenstein:
I am somebody with cancer and I am somebody without cancer.

Perry Rothaus:
Even if youre losing, you have to fight.

Christopher Carley:
Weve got to be part of the solution.

Trinika Crawford:
I would not be the Trinika I know today.

Craig Lustig:
Too sexy for my hair.

Magnolia Contreras:
Can I sign that thirty-year mortgage?

David Carbone:
The diagnosis is c

Hugo Gomez:
Im just a regular kid, you know?

Suzette Gelle:
Pity? Move it along.

Tim Madden:
I felt I had gotten off too easy.

Susan Shinagawa:
Asian women dont get breast cancer.

Mortimer Brown:
Be strong in accepting help.

Scott Toner:
The survival rates are 100 percent for Scott Toner.

Eric Miller:
Put your pride in your back pocket.

Mike Kriz:
Life is a journey. Its not a guided tour.

Lori Monroe:
I cant ruin today worrying about tomorrow.

Greg Ferris:
You have to be the CEO of your own care.

Karen Seeche:
I am not a statistic.

Joseph Nipper:
Changed for the better.

Octavio Zavala:
I wish I would have asked.

David Driver:
Attitude.

Amy Dilbeck:
Have every teenage girl lose her hair for six months, and shell be a much better person.

Brian Hill:
Being on this side of the grass.

Eden Stotsky:
Im not the only one this has happened to.

Stacy Holborow:
It turns you into a fighter.

Susan Leigh:
Were going to cure you.What more do you want?

Introduction
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LANCE ARMSTRONG

Like winning the Tour de France, my recovery from cancer was not something I accomplished on my own. My progress was helped along by my doctors and nurses, my familyespecially my mothermy friends, teammates, fans, and fellow survivors. But what I found was that, even with their support, I wanted tools to help me be in control of the experience. I wanted numbers, statistics, data: things that could be measured. I wanted to be as educated as possible because the statistics show that the more knowledge cancer patients have, the better their chances of survival. But it was hard to find the information I was looking for. I spent hours upon hours of searching the Internet, reading books, and bothering my doctors.

After I was in remission, I had the feeling that my cancer was over. I felt like I was supposed to get on with my life, pick up where I had left off before the diagnosis. But I found that I was still thinking about my cancer a lot. I had thoughts of recurrence, thoughts of dying, thoughts that my mother and my friends who hadnt had cancer themselves couldnt truly understand or help me through. I was always worrying about my health. Things that other people might not think twice about, like a bump or an ache, made me think that my cancer was back. The slightest physical change was cause for in-depth analysis, deep pondering, phone calls to doctors, and distress. The medical professionals could only offer me scientific evidence. They ran tests and assured me time and time again that I was fine, but I still worried. While I was fortunate to have wonderful access to many experts and resources that helped me make informed decisions about my life after diagnosis, I needed to know that answers were still being sought and new research developed. I wanted to turn my individual energy into a larger advocacy machine that could demand results, accountability, and continued commitment from the medical community as well as our government. This need inspired the creation of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The LAF believes that in your battle with cancer, unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything. From the moment of diagnosis, we provide the practical information and tools people with cancer need to live strong.

I also felt there might be a small chance that other people would listen to my story or maybe even benefit from hearing my storythe symptoms, the side effects of the treatment, and post-treatment life. Sharing my story was therapeutic, but I also had hopes that my experiences could help somebody else. My work with the LAF shows me daily that sharing our stories and learning from one anothers experiences helps us cancer survivors continue to survive. Some people think the cancer experience is only about the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, as if after the disease goes into remission, it no longer exists. But survivorship goes beyond remission. Survivorship is an evolution. It begins on the day of diagnosis and never ends. Survivors are people with cancer. They are people whose mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, partners, friends, and coworkers are surviving cancer. Reading and listening to their stories on the LIVESTRONG Website, and now seeing some of them collected between the covers of this book, I am convinced once again that the LAF is meeting the needs of millions of cancer survivors. The narratives here are a sampling from those millions of other survivors throughout the world. While all of us are not fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to have our stories told around the world, I think it is important to let people everywhere know that we are an army. This is a big disease, a big problemit affects millions of people, and we are not silent. The more people who stand up and say, I am a cancer survivor, and the more people who tell their story, the more power we have to demand change. Each individual has a unique experience and perspective to share, and seeing these stories reminds me that there is always a larger community that I belong to. Sometimes hearing the experiences of cancer survivors or their families is a double-edged sword. You dont want to hear that someone has been diagnosed; you dont want to hear that maybe someone has died. But to hear that story can be incredibly inspiring if the person lived and went on to live a healthy and fruitful life. That inspires me, and it inspires everyone around them. On the other hand, sometimes people dont make it, and those are the stories you hate to hear. But then again, sometimes it has such an effect on a family or community or school or workplace that it still makes a big difference. Although that person is no longer there, his or her influence goes on for years and years and years. It is my hope that these stories, along with those from survivors all over the world, are shared as my story has been. My own efforts, as well as those of the others who work for the LAF, are focused on making sure that the LAF is a voice for cancer survivors. We want cancer survivors and their families to reach out and let their voices be heard and to find information of the most personal and practical kind: from advice on how to tell your kids about cancer to the tools necessary to be an effective advocate for survivorship programs. This book is just one chance to learn and listen, to hear and be heard. This book is the voice of cancer survivors, living strong.

I am somebody with cancer and I am
somebody without cancer.
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SAMANTHA EISENSTEIN

I became a survivor when I was diagnosed with Ewings sarcoma in December of 1999.