I owe my will to live to this story. Without it, I am fairly certain I would have died. In fact, fresh out of recovery when the docs told me I had tumors in my lungs, I gave up, stopped breathing. The week following surgery was the darkest point in my life and it was then that Lance’s story really hit home.
I desperately needed to know that surviving metastatic cancer wasn’t impossible and I figured if Lance could do it, then so could I. My heart felt like giving up was taking the easy way out and I was scared because I knew the battle to win was not going to be easy; I wondered if I really had what was needed to beat cancer. Thinking of Lance’s story shifted my entire thought process and I chose to fight. 19 years later, I am still alive.
During my first year in remission, a dream came true when I attended a fundraising event for which Lance was the key-note speaker. My heart raced as I stood to ask the question that burned within me; “How do you deal with the fear of recurrence and does the fear ever go away?” He explained that with time, the worry lessened with each day, several years out, he stopped thinking about it all together!
At the age of 25, World Cycling Champion, Lance Armstrong, was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. His story of survival is miraculous and exactly what I needed to hear when facing a very similar prognosis. Instantly, he became my hero.
Thanks Lance, for writing this book and inspiring me to fight for my life!
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