While all this can dampen our feeling positive about overcoming cancer, should it? I say no. As a medical journalist, I get to interview many patients and medical experts. While Lance Armstrong’s star is falling because of his own dishonesty, there are many others to inspire us.
Yesterday I was watching the Powerful Patient story of Kayla Nation, a young mother with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). She has no intention of letting it hold her back. She may not be a celebrity like Lance, but she is a star in my book. Then there are the young men, Diego and Alfonso, I met the other day at GEPAC, the consortium of cancer patient organizations in Spain. Both men survived Hodgkin lymphoma and are now devoting their life to helping others. They sat in rapt attention as we watched Patient Power’s latest interview about the disease with Dr. Joseph Connors. His upbeat assessment of progress in the rare condition boosted the spirits of both men.
While it is a shame Lance Armstrong will never be in the same position again to educate the world about life after cancer, we can find inspiration and hope in other places. Maybe you are inspiration for the rest of us? That’s why we all need to speak out about cancer, show how our lives go on – whether during treatment or as survivors afterwards – and how inviting contributions to research can help us all.
Lance’s “crash” of integrity is disconcerting. And he’s paying the price for being dishonest. But all of us aligned against cancer have overcome so much. We can easily deal with one prominent cancer survivor’s fall because his issue is truly beside the point.
I welcome your comments and wish you and your family the best of health!
Andrew
