Lance Armstrong: Overcome Many Obstacles Throughout Life

Lance Armstrong: Overcome Many Obstacles Throughout Life

Lance Armstrong
 “The truth is, if you ask me to choose between the Tour De France and beating cancer, I would choose cancer” (Armstrong 259). These brave words were spoken by Lance Armstrong, an individual who has overcome many obstacles throughout his life— obstacles that most people will never face in a single lifetime. His is a story that never fails to astound, and with each retelling, the story of his struggles serves as a comfort and hope to people around the globe. Lance Armstrong has inspired millions of people because he overcame cancer, won the Tour de France seven times, and has raised millions of dollars for cancer research.
With hopes of training for the 1997 Tour De France, Lance Armstrong sadly learned his plans were about to change. On October 2nd, 1996, he received the terrifying news that no individual ever wants to hear—he had been diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer (Wikipedia). In the first moments after hearing his diagnosis, he could not comprehend the words the doctors had told him; he thought he would awake at any moment from this awful dream. However, he slowly realized that this was, in fact, no dream. He had cancer, and this was his new reality.  Immediately after the news fully sank in, Lance called his family and close friends, many of whom rushed to Austin, Texas to be by his side through his battle (Armstrong 71). He called his agent to tell him that he was done with racing. Lance’s agent replied, “Lance, we just need to deal with this one step at a time” (Armstrong 73). And so he did.
      Medically speaking, the first step was to have the cancerous testicle removed immediately. After the surgery was performed at St. David’s Hospital in Austin, Texas, the doctors decided that a CT scan was necessary (“Lance Armstrong Story”). In Lance’s case, the scan showed that his condition had spread to his brain, as well as to his lungs (Wikipedia). The doctors knew they had to act quickly to keep the disease from spreading...

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