Arnie’s Rebounding World: Lance And Me
I am happy that I have entered a relatively quiet period in my recovery from my allogeneic (donor) stem cell transplant and that things seem to be going well. I am returning to something closer to a normal life, whatever that is anymore, and my mind has turned to other musings.
So, I thought I would write about something other than multiple myeloma and stem cell transplants, which brings me to the Lance Armstrong story.
As an avid cyclist, weekend warrior, and cancer patient, I have been fascinated by the Lance story and I have followed it closely. To me, it reads like a Greek tragedy, a man brought down by excess hubris.
First of all, I would like to say that Lance was one of my heroes.
When I was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma, I received several copies of Lance’s book “It’s Not About The Bike” from friends. It was one of the first things I read, and it was inspirational.
His story is, of course, at this point well known: Armstrong is a talented rising cycling star, diagnosed with metastatic testicular cancer. After intensive treatments, which incidentally factors in a potential return to cycling, he beats the cancer. He then goes on to win seven Tour de France titles, to start the foundation Livestrong to help cancer patients, and to become a household name and marketing machine.
To me and to many other cancer patients, here is a guy who not only survived his cancer treatments and was cured of his cancer, but went on to dominate an athletic endeavor of the highest level.
It changes the way that you look at cancer. You do not just have to crawl under a rock. It is not something just to endure. You can excel. There is hope. It motivated me to get back on the bike as soon as possible after treatments.
Well, it turns out that the whole mystic is largely based on a lie. While Lance has continued to refuse to publically admit it, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence is clear: Lance was a doper!
Now I fully understand that within the context of his sport at the time, everyone was doing it. It is clear from multiple accounts that in order to seriously compete at the highest level, particularly in lengthy multi-stage races such as the Tour de France, doping was an essential part of the game.
Certain less desirable aspects of Lance’s personality are also coming into focus. He is highly egotistical, driven, and competitive. It seems that meant, to him, if being the best cyclist required doping, he would be the best doper as well.
Through all this, Lance continued to live the lie and to live it well. Multiple large homes, private jets, and an extensive art collection were all part of the trappings.
But it has all come crashing down, as almost all of his former teammates and fellow cyclists have come forward with credible accounts of what was really going on. His titles are gone, his endorsement contracts have disappeared, and he has stepped down as the head of Livestrong.
To me, there are several tragedies here.
First, it is inconceivable to me as a cancer patient that after surviving cancer treatment that one would willingly subject their body to the potential ramifications of performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids, testosterone, growth hormone, and erythropoietin, regardless of the reward. Indeed this is one of the rationalizations I used for years for saying Lance must be clean.
The second is that Lance has, at least to this point, missed an opportunity to be a true hero and come forward and confess. He has continued to stonewall and obfuscate, no doubt on the advice of counsel, to shield him from personal liability. To confess and apologize now, he loses nothing. Everyone knows he did it, everyone knows it was part of the culture of the sport, so why not use this as an opportunity to help clean up the sport of cycling. More importantly, why not use this as an opportunity to show real moral courage and once again be a hero and a sign of hope for cancer patients.
The third tragedy here is that Lance has continued to hide behind the veil of cancer and Livestrong. The battle cry from his defenders is always, “But look at all that he does to help fight cancer.” Well okay, let’s look at that. The cynic in me is always suspicious of the symbiotic relationship between high profile celebrities and their organizations such as Livestrong, which serves as much to enhance the Lance Armstrong brand as to help its cause. Not that these organizations don’t do some good.
There is an excellent article in Outside magazine where the author Bill Gifford teases out where the money from Livestrong actually goes. It turns out that very little, if any, goes to actual cancer research. A large amount is spent on marketing and other somewhat more nebulous aspects of the cancer world such as “awareness,” as if people are not already aware of cancer, and patient support.
Which brings me to the final point of my column.
There is a huge amount of money donated to thousands of cancer organizations each year. Countless benefits, races, and fundraisers are held each year. I even run one myself. While some good does come of this, often it is more about feeling good. There needs to be more of a focus on where the money actually goes and who is really benefitting.
Returning to the myeloma world for a moment, I prefer to see that my money is used for a more focused cause, finding a cure for multiple myeloma.
Arnold Goodman is a multiple myeloma patient and columnist at The Myeloma Beacon.
If you are interested in writing a regular column to be published by The Myeloma Beacon, please contact the Beacon team at
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> goes on to win seven Tour de France titles, to start the foundation Livestrong to start the foundation LIVESTRONG < .
Lance and his founding body of friends started the foundation before any tdf title claim. Period.
Therefore your article the reader must see your article in it's entirety as erroneous.
carl old
Living strong in perfect health with multiple myeloma.
Foundation started in 1997...1st tdf win was in 1999.Therefore the facts as stated are erroneous.
Lance Armstrong is a great humanitarian, the father of five children, an wonderful example of a fierce cancer fighter having been diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer which traveled to his brain, and yes, he won the Tour de France 7 times.
What don't you understand?
Hi Arnie ... Thanks very much for touching on the story of Lance Armstrong. I didn't want to believe that his team in cycling was using illegal drugs for competition, but I am sure that the Tour officials know what they are doing. About a decade ago, Lance came here and ran a fund raising cycling tour through the Rockies (he may have been here more than once). It was quite expensive to join, but one of my friends, who was battling prostate cancer, went on that tour. There is a commemorative shelf of photos, jersey, cap, etc., about his bike tours at our cancer center. Such a shame that not most of the funds raised went to research after all, from his organizations total budget. Nice link to Outside Magazine .. . interesting. I think that for the people he inspired over the years, it may have done them a lot of good, even if now he is shown to be flawed. His encouragement to people to exercise was good. Unfortunately for Lance, he now stands to lose a lot of respect, and may lose a lot of assets too!
look lance is a dead set cheat and has falsely made people think he is this remarkable human. look at this this way ,where is he now where is his voice,his pictures ,his silence on the net etc.i know he doesnt come clean because he'll go to jail for perjury and he also hasn't got the balls because he's had testy cancer and they have been removed.how about given the had working people at livestrong some credit for raising the money as well hes nothing than just a fiqure head thats a famous bike rider(NOW CHEAT).thats made heap of money cheating. far from my hero enjoy the law suits.
To Carl Robert Hiller Old: How can you claim everything in this article to be erroneous? Dr. Goodman never states that Lance Armstrong won 7 tdf titles before founding Livestrong. He wrote: 'He then goes on to win seven Tour de France titles, to start the foundation Livestrong to help cancer patients, and to become a household name and marketing machine.' I can't speak for Dr. Goodman but he probably ordered them that way since Mr. Armstrong is most known for his cycling accomplishments...with or without the use of performance enhancing drugs. Overly defensive of Mr. Armstrong, are we?
Thanks, you are correct I was not implying that Lance started Livestrong after winning the Tour de France, just enumerating his accomplishments, and I am not sure that it is germane to the point I am trying to make.
Nonetheless I do appreciate the passion that this issue can engender on both sides. Part the idea of writing this was to generate some discussion from all view points.
Hello Arnie, it is great to read that you are doing well, close to day 100 now, right? Hopefully you will now have a durable CR, if not cure. I would love to read more about your symptoms and myeloma markers.
Thank you for an insightful article about the Lance Armstrong doping saga, now confirmed. The first commentator who responded to it sounds like an ostrich, and was quite disrespectful in his comments. You did not deserve that; don't let that prevent you for continuing your excellent writing. Best wishes! Jan
Well...all I can say is that no doubt you, Arnie, are already a hero for your family and if you're not careful you're going to end being a hero for many of us fellow MM patients as well!
Steve
Because I am a cancer victim and avid cyclist, I became a big "fan" of Lance. I too drew inspiration from his book.
I however don't doubt that he was involved heavily in blood doping.
I do find it telling that when they decided to strip him of his 7 Tour titles, they will not be awarding them to anyone else. Why, because the next 10, at some point in their careers, were all found to be doping as well. If the playing field was all level and nobody doped, I think Lance would have still been a multiple year winner. He is that dominating of an athlete. The doping may have helped him but it also helped competitors like Jan Ullrich, Alexander Vinokourov, Ivan Basso etc. Had he not doped, since they all did,he would not have won. That doesn't excuse his behavior but helps explain it.
The worst of it is the lying and denying. Getting caught in a lie just makes it worse. His aggressive attacks on those that new the truth, to try and keep the cover up going, makes his actions even more despicable. So, although I admire his physical and mental accomplishments after his battle with cancer and all of his good work at Livestrong, none of that excuses his detestable behavior. Another example, like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, of a great athlete with a bad persona.
Ron
Dr. G.
You performed a tonsillectomy on me in July 2003. I had to come back for a follow-up a few weeks later because my sense of taste had seemingly gone away post-op. You assured me that, although a rare side effect, my sense of taste would eventually recover, and it did (almost immediately). THANK GOD! During that follow-up I even brought some articles on the subject that I printed out from the internet (mainly bulletin board stories of people losing their sense of taste post-op) and you took the time to at least glance over them before giving me your opinion. I was very grateful.
Fast forward 9 years and I was seeking your assessment of a funny looking spot around the site of the former tonsils. Needless to say I could not locate you and the nice lady who answered the phone at your former practice wasn't revealing much about your whereabouts.
After a Google search I learned what happened to you and have been reading this column ever since. It's extremely encouraging that things are going so well for you.
As for my latest issue, I ended up seeing Dr. Seper and she did a wonderful job, has a great bedside manner, and diagnosed the spot as being normal tissue which was a HUGE relief. So that place is still in good hands it seems.
Dr. Goodman, I wish you continued success and increasingly good health and hope you and your family have a great holiday season!!!
Regards,
Andy
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