OT: What Do You Think Of Lance Armstrong's cheating and lieing?

Rague said:

He is 'amazing' - in the negative sense!

It is amazing to me how ANYONE could think he (LA) is anything but trying to do anything except to justify himself for harming others (with his lies). and foir money    It's all about him believing he is above all others - even thouygh he is a CHEATER and LIAR!  I have competed, over the many years, in sports (equine) where there are attempts by many to drug "up" or "down" on the animal (and sometimes on the rider also).

I could go 'on and on' about how 'lower than a snake's belly' I know he is.  Bottom line is - he has always done whatever to WIN and is still (SADLY) doing exactly the same thing.  His use of KNOWN, illegal proecedures/drugs is documented and his lies and attacks on anyone who tried to to be honest of his 'behaviors' is now admitted to.  He got RICH on his lies.

IF the 'Canceer Organization', LA set up now goes on to deal with the issues casused by exactly what he did - WIN at any cost- gets involved with the reality of the idea that win is all that counts noi matter what then - then it might have a point in going on. 

WInyan - The Power Within

Susan

He is a loser!  I couldn't even stand to watch his interview with Oprah as he didn't seem the least bit ashamed or humbled or anything by his lieing and cheating.  He almost seemed like, so what, I did it, let's move on, no big deal.

I also feel sorry for those that could have won those medals honestly and didn't because of Lance's bullying, lieing and cheating.  Shame on you Lance!

VickiSam said:

I've been staying on the side lines of this

topic.  Personally,  I fell Lance speaking with Oprah or Bob Costa is a way to pave his way back into the SPOT Light of the rich and famous.  Perhaps, Lance is missing all the glam, glory and adoring fan's.

Sorry to say,  I feel he wants the public sympathy -- and forgiveness.    Once he achieves that, he will have a reality series!  Anything for money -- no more sponsorships, admiration, and Hollywood parties.

Silence and volunteer work would speak volumes to someone like me.  Work Hard, Give Back and stay out the TV Circuit, Media frenzy!!!

Just my humble opinion.

Vicki Sam

 

 

It is hard to know where to even start talking and saying how sickening Lance Armstrong is.  I just hope he is suffering somehow from his evil and dirty selfish deeds.  Karma is a b____! 

Rose

SIROD said:

"You can do it, look at Lance."

I always knew that Testicular Cancer was cureable.  I knew at least 3 men and two mothers of sons who had this cancer and all survived.  I attended ACS meeting once and the oncologist stated that if you have testicular cancer even with mets, I can cure you.  I can't cure any other form of cancer.  I knew that Lance was not hero with the cancer business but I thought cycling perhaps he was.  I didn't expect someone who undergone treatment to ever want to do drugs in the manner he did.  However, there is someone who says it a lot better than I can express.  She is a blogger and her name is Ann.  She often blogs on METAvivor and her best one is "Breast Cancer? but Doctor..I hate pink?".  

I read this blog yesterday at the recommendation on another bc mets web page.  This week Ann wrote about Lance "You can do it, look at Lance".  She has a photo of a fist with the words on it "Be Your Own Hero"

There is hardly a more awkward thing to drop into polite conversation than, "I have terminal cancer" so if somebody asks me how I am,  like the rest of you, I say "fine." I do sometimes run across people who know I've got cancer and who ask specifics, and in that case, I tell the truth.  I don't have anything to be ashamed of, but I like to be sure they really want to know.  If they use the word "prognosis," I spill.   I usually soften it a bit,  "I'm terminal but my doctors don't give time estimates."  That way they won't feel like I might drop dead before they've finished their coffee.

 

The most common response I get to that news is, "Well, don't give up, look at Lance Armstrong.  He was near death and he went on to win the Tour de France and now he's cured."  That response is so predictable it might as well enter the Cancer Cliche book, along with "New Normal" and "Battle with Cancer."

 

I am not here to bust anybody's hero or rip their yellow wristband off, and I know that having cancer - any cancer - is a bad and frightening thing.  But, Lance Armstrong did not only lie about performance-enhancing drugs, and did not only (cruelly) sue people who told the truth about him. Lance Armstrong, World's Most Famous and Inspirational Cancer Patient, exaggerated his cancer story too. 

 

He admittedly perpetuated the story that he was on death's door with metastatic testicular cancer, and only by sheer grit, determination and will to live is he standing today.  But in the end, Lance was not only standing; that is for mere mortals. After "battling" a near fatal cancer, Lance comes back to win the Tour de France.  That's an amazing story.   And in creating that comeback myth, he inadvertently made it even harder for us who actually do have unbeatable cancers and are facing that hard fact, because now, hey, if Lance can do it, why can't we? 

 

Didn't you know that overcoming cancer is merely a matter of willpower, like giving up your nightly ice cream?

 

In his book he asks, "The question that lingers is, how much was I a factor in my own survival, and how much was science, and how much miracle?"

 

It's a good question. Lance, I have the answer for you. The main factor in your survival was your luck in getting one of the most survivable cancers known to man.  You can call that a miracle if you want; all I can say is I certainly wish I'd had testicles.  (Although, I really don't know how you guys walk around with those things.)

 

(Quick cancer lesson:  when cancer metastasizes, it is still the original cancer.  Lance had mets in his brain, but it was still testicular cancer in his brain - I know, it seems every guy has testicle cells on the brain, right?  I have mets in my liver, but I don't have liver cancer, I have breast cancer in my liver. Although this is simplistic, it helps to know.  Type of cancer matters, even when it spreads. Some can be cured, no matter where it decides to live, and some cannot.)

 

Metastatic testicular cancer of the type Lance had has a poor prognosis for that type - which means he had a more than 50% cure rate.   Many men with metastatic testicular disease have a 70% cure rate, but Lance's was aggressive so he had a 50/50 shot, as he has admitted.  People who catch it early have an almost 100% cure rate.

 

A 50% cure rate sounds like heaven to me, although I've not a doubt it was a scary number to Lance at age 25. Personally, I would have found those odds to be excellent.  Back in the good old days, when my odds were 70% chance of survival, I never doubted I would survive.

 

Now though, I have metastatic breast cancer (to the liver).  It has a 0% cure rate.  The average life expectancy for me is 3 years.  Five year survival in women with mets to the liver is 8% but survival does not equate to cure.

 

Lance had two surgeries, one to remove his testicle and one to remove a lesion in his brain.  He did four rounds of chemo. The entire experience apparently took four months. He was diagnosed October 1996 and was declared cancer-free in February 1997, start to finish.   He is considered cured, and held up by everybody as the ultimate cancer survivor, the one who Lives Strong - the Standard Bearer for Cancer Patients, the one we should all look to for hope and inspiration.

 

In his book, he has allowed this myth to be perpetuated, and according to what I hear, what people have taken from that, and from what I've heard from Lance's own lips is that strength of will and determination is what it takes to survive cancer.  When somebody says to me,  "Hey, if Lance can do it, you can too" it implies some sort of failure of spirit and will on my part if I happen to die. 

 

Which I will.   Die.   I am not going to live through this, no matter how good my attitude is, how much I want to, how much I fight.

 

No, I cannot do what Lance has done.  I don't have the cancer he had. 

 

The real question is: could Lance could do what I have done?  Rather than 4 months from start to finish,  I have finished my third year in treatment.   I am on my 7th chemo and my 3rd targeted treatment.  I had 3 surgeries.   I have been on chemo for pretty much three straight years in a row, I have had half my liver removed, recovered from sepsis and c-diff pancolitis.  And, I still pick my son up from school every day, I make dinner when I can, I do chores if possible.  I am declining, I'm tired, I sleep a lot, but I manage.  I laugh with my family, I try to be with friends, I blog and I find inspirational stuff to post on facebook to try and keep other cancer patient's spirits up. I do my best without hurting anybody but while facing that fearsome reality. 

 

I don't ride bikes or do athletic endeavors because I cannot, and in my place, neither could Lance.  Walking and breathing at the same time is hard now, as it would be even for Lance.   I would like to see Lance Armstrong, or anybody else, live in my shoes for a few days and then write about willpower and miracles and mental strength overcoming cancer. 

 

I'm not here to beat up on Lance.  I don't care about sports, and the media has him now.  He can use this "outing" to turn into a good guy or not.  I don't care.  I'm truly glad he survived his very survivable cancer.   I am just using his name for one reason - anybody searching for Lance Armstrong and Cancer and finds this blog should know one thing: 

 

Don't tell your terminal friend to "look at Lance" for inspiration.

 

We can't see him, relate to him, or be him. When you say that to us, what we are hearing is:  "My friend thinks Lance is stronger than me.  That he has more mental power than I do.  If I die, I am lacking. I just am not trying hard enough. I did it wrong.  It's my fault."  When the truth is, we were never on the same cancer plane.  He had a curable cancer.  Many of us just do not.

 

When we tell you we are terminal, believe us.  Validate us.   Tell us you are sorry.  See if you can help.  Don't push us away and tell us that it is survivable because some remarkable athlete survived a very survivable cancer.  It doesn't help - it hurts.  It invalidates our real and painful experience.

 

Lance's survival story has impacted the dying experience for many of us.   People - many people,  perceive it as a failure of strength when we don't beat cancer, as many of us cannot, no matter how positive and wonderful we are. Graves are filled with positive, strong people who died of cancer.

 

Remember, my friends,  it is possible to "live strong" and with a sense of humor and sense of strength - while knowing you are dying.  It is also possible to face your disease and your treatment and your death with grace.  I am doing that every day, or trying to.

 

Bottom line:  Living strong is not the only way to handle cancer.  Dying strong, when there is no other option, is powerful too.  And, life, Mr. Armstrong, is not all about winning and losing.  Sometimes, it is about how you play the game, even when you are destined to lose.

 

I on the other hand couldn't help when he was winning at alarming rates thinking of the line "IF it is too good to be true it likely is..."

Funny how "MEN" have been the worst offenders of this and never once caring what they were doing statistics in Sport history.  Seems we have raised a higher number of people period who would sell off their mothers for the all mighty dollar.

It is sad and where do we go from here when the records have been broken by cheaters??  I was an athlete but realized how quickly one could become obsessed only to drive oneself crazy.  I admire those who can do it and be successful without the steroids without the crazy.  I am finding there are not many anymore who wouldn't do anything it took to be the winner in their own sport.

Tara