I Live Strong!

Being a cancer survivor and having had past experiences with LIVESTRONG I have been heavily following what has been going on with Lance Armstrong. I watched the first part of his interview with Oprah and will most definitely be watching the second part tonight. I have also spent the better part of this morning exploring many different news articles, blog posts by both cancer survivors and your everyday citizens. I also tuned in to watch Doug Ulman on the Today show (well I watched it online as I missed the original broadcast). 

As far as my own perspective on Lance I must say that I always knew that the likelihood of him having been involved with doping was far greater than him not being involved. When this all came about these past few months I had just been involved with LIVESTRONG at the YMCA and was sporting the famous yellow LIVESTRONG wristband. I can't tell you the number of people that commented on it whether it be positive or negative. I was always more upset by the negative comments but that is because the bracelet means something entirely different to me but I will explain that later.

 I must admit that I do feel some sense of anger, disappointment and just plain betrayal from Lance for denying it for so long and going to the lengths he did to try and hide the truth. I will certainly not say that what he has done to his former teammates, their families as well as many others in the cycling community has any justification because quite frankly I don't believe it does. What he did was just flat out wrong and to carry on the way he has for so many years made it that much worse.

Having said that I also have to ask, with everything that he has done at this exact moment who is it really coming down on? You could argue many things here, the cycling community, LIVESTRONG, his fellow teammates, etc. However in my opinion it is really only coming down on Lance. He is the one that is being striped of all his medals and titles, he has lost the respect of lots of people, he has burned bridges with more people then we as the public probably know about, he has even lost the foundation that; despite what many think; he worked so hard to build. I am sure there will be even more fall out in the form of law suits and such as the weeks/months continue. As he said in his interview, all of this is everything that he deserves, he made his choices and has to live with the outcome of finally admitting what he did. I know it will certainly be a long time until he has earned back my trust, however his personal actions will never cause me to not support LIVESTRONG.

I will always and most likely forever be an advocate and supporter of LIVESTRONG. I have not removed my LIVESTRONG bracelet during any of this and I will not. I wear it for what it means to me and to me it does not represent Lance Armstrong. It represents my own journey that the LIVESTRONG Foundation has helped me immensely with. I can honestly say that without their survivorship programs I would not be living the life that I am today. On the same token those programs would not be in existence without all the people and organizations that support LIVESTRONG. I view LIVESTRONG and Lance Armstrong as two separate entities. I have very high hopes that LIVESTRONG will continue to get the support and do amazing things for the cancer community. I say bravo to all LIVESTRONG staff and program creators for all their hard work. Take it from me what they do is truly life changing.

I know there are many different opinions right now, this is just my own. 

I live strong and will continue to LIVESTRONG.

LIVESTRONG in Montreal

I don't even know where to begin. I guess from the beginning, I have gotten more than I could ever ask for from The Lance Armstrong Foundation's LIVESTRONG programs. I have had the pleasure of going through their LIVESTRONG at the YMCA program as well as their Cancer Transitions: Moving Beyond Treatment program. I decided that because I had gotten so much out of their programs that I needed to let them know just how much they had done for me. My original plan was to email them but for the life of me I couldn't find an email address so I decided what better way then to really get my point across then to write an old fashioned thank you letter I even included a before and after picture of myself as I had lost 75lbs due to their programs.

Once the letter was received I got an email from their Community Program Manager Jordan Parks telling me how excited they were to receive my letter and that although they get feedback from people through surveys they are all anonymous so they never get to talk to them. They even sent me a package full of amazing LIVESTRONG stuff...

A little while later I got another email from Jordan asking me if I would be their guest at an event in Montreal where they would be officially announcing the Cancer Transitions program. They wanted me to speak at the event and share my story with the audience. I was thrilled on so many levels. I had never been to Montreal, I was going to get to share my story and be able to tell everyone about this fantastic program all at the same time. I was a little nervous because I would be going by myself but I knew it would be fine and be worth it.

So on August 28th, 2012 I flew from Boston to Montreal. It really was a few first for me, my first time in Montreal, my first time taking a cab from the airport (I know shocking), my first time some where that English isn't the primary language and my first time speaking in front of that many people. After riding in the cab for what seemed like eternity we arrived in front of a beautiful hotel.

The Hotel Intercontinental was amazing! It even has a little shopping/dining area withing the hotel which I thought was amazing! After checking in I went and wandered around for a little bit and of course got some lunch. The proved to be some what difficult not really being able to read french despite all the years I took it middle school and high school. Around 3pm Jordan and I met to go over what would be happening that night. The funny thing is that while walking to The Westin Hotel where the event would be held we ran into other people from LIVESTRONG and all of them knew me by name, I was very flattered but also surprised.  Once there I got to go see the space and we did a little run down of how things were going to go. That was when I learned that not only was I speaking but it was going to be in front of 300+ people, Doug Ulman the CEO of LIVESTRONG was going to introducing me and Lance Armstrong was going to be there. Let me tell you if I wasn't nervous before I certainly was after that. We worked everything out for the night and decided to meet back at the Westin at 6:30pm.

I went back to my room and vegged out a little before getting ready and heading over there. I also got to meet Ivy who co-wrote the Cancer Transtions program so that was fun too. Once there we got our tickets and got to just mingle around.

I felt a little out of place cause I didn't really know anyone but at least the food was good and everyone that I did meet happened to be really nice! Then I got to go into the "green room" where I met Doug Ulman so we could talk about what he was going to say when he introduced me so he wouldn't give away too much. Then I met some of the panelists that were going to be on stage. Sarah Cook was one of them who was a pediatric cancer survivor but now she is also big advocate for other pediatric cancer patients and survivors. I also met Gwen Andrews Nacos who is the director and founder of Cedars Cansupport. Both of these ladies were amazing and made me feel right at home! I got to have my picture taken too...

L to R: Jordan, Ivy, Sarah and I (photo provided by asbed.com)

It was great to meet so many people affected by cancer and doing such amazing things with it. I of course also got to meet Lance Armstrong which I have to admit I was thrilled about. I think what he has done (with lots of help from LAF and LIVESTRONG supporters) for cancer survivors is absolutely amazing!

(photo provided by asbed.com)

Then came show time. I have to be honest that I hadn't really prepared a speech so to speak I a really had was bullets of things I wanted to talk about. It is is much easier to share your story cause you know it! Had I written a speech I would have been more than happy to include it. If by some chance there ever happens to be video of it that pops up I will be sure to post it. As I sat waiting I listened to everyone speak. Then Doug took the stage

and started to talk about me at which point I am almost certain I must have turned scarlet red. As I got up to go on stage you have to know the only thought going through my head was, 'Don't trip.' Luckily I did not trip. As I took the podium I was all of a sudden really calm and so I began to speak.

(photo provided by asbed.com)

When I finished Doug gave me a hug and I went back to my seat. And no in case you were all wondering I did not trip coming off the stage either. They invited Cary, Sarah, Lance, Princess Dina and Gwen all up to take their seats on the stage.

The great thing about this panel is all the questions came from the audience. It was a fantastic experience!

After it was the complete opposite than what it was earlier in the night. Everyone knew who I was! I was trying to make my way back to the green room because that's where I thought I was supposed to be. But I kept getting stopped by people. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. The people stopping me were telling me their story and sharing how hearing about me had inspired them and how much they were looking forward to Cancer Transitions. I love that I was able to help some many that in itself was so rewarding! I did finally make it back to the green room where I got to meet Sarah's family who were great as well as a number of other people. Jordan did finally find me and asked if I would join all the LIVESTRONG people back at the hotel. I of course said yes.

After changing I headed down to their hospitality room and was greeted warmly by everyone there. It was fantastic to be able to sit with so many people. I got to talk to all the people who worked at LIVESTRONG and  hear more about what they do and things they are working on. One of the girls Rebekkah had just gone back Austin for a day and then she flew to Montreal for the week and was then flying to Peru (I think I might have gotten that wrong) all to help spread LIVESTRONG all over the world.

It's funny because I know for myself when I think about everyone that works for The Lance Armstrong Foundation you hold them in a higher regard almost celebrity status. It was great to be able to spend this more personal time with them including Lance. It makes you remember that they are all just people too. Doug told me a great story about his daughter learning to swim and hearing about others stories was just so much fun. I ended up going to bed around 2:30 am that night and it was well worth it!

The next day I got some time to explore Montreal. I was able to find what I considered to be "Downtown" Montreal which really just meant I found all the shopping,

four story mall with 4 separate equally large wings

A beautiful Cathedral Church

A fantastic stone sculpture in the park.

This trip to Monteal is one that I will not soon forget. I am so happy that I was able to help so many people touched by cancer as well as help support a program that I truely believe should automatically be part of every cancer patients treatment. As soon as you are done you go right into Cancer Transitions: Moving Beyond Treatment!

I also can't thank everyone enough at The Lance Armstrong Foundation for everything that they do, for having such fantastic programs through LIVESTRONG and of course for not only giving me this opportunity but also making me feel right at home the whole time!