My work with Livestrong

“LIVESTRONG”…..IT’S A PHILOSOPHY OF LIVING AND an incredibly powerful inspiration for cancer survivors worldwide.

About LIVESTRONG/The Lance Armstrong Foundation
LIVESTRONG serves people affected by cancer and empowers them to take action against the world’s leading cause of death.  Created as the Lance Armstrong Foundation in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the organization is now known publicly by its powerful brand – LIVESTRONG – and is a leader in the global movement on behalf of 28 million people around the world living with cancer today. Known for its iconic yellow wristband, LIVESTRONG has become a symbol of hope and inspiration to people affected by cancer around the world. Since its inception, the organization has raised more than $400 million for the fight against cancer. LIVESTRONG.org.

MY CONNECTION TO LiveSTRONG:

I was selected to be a regional delegate for the Livestrong Foundation in 2008 and I was a  Livestrong Leader for 3 years.  Currently I support, raise awareness and advocate for cancer survivors in my community through consulting work with Cancer Patient Care, continued involvement in survivorship program advocacy with LiveSTRONG, volunteering and specializing in assisting couples and families to navigate the difficult aftermath of a cancer diagnosis http://www.couplestherapyspokane.com

Working with LiveSTRONG over the years has given me a richer appreciation for my own health, my family and the strength I have developed to help others.  I am currently working to make cancer survivorship/wellness program design an important piece of my profession as well as my passion.

Why Livestrong?

When I was 27 and Lance Armstrong was only 18 I was an Athletic Trainer/EMT and Therapist (Soigneur) for the US Olympic Committee.

Left to Right: Lance Armstrong, Rod Bush, Mike Piezarka, Nathan Sheaffor, John Frey, John Stenner, Dave Nicholson, Jarek Bek, Melanie Morlan 1990 My first year with the National Team, Tour of Sweden

My first international assignment was Lance’s first international race.  In 1990 we spent a month in Sweden, working together at the Post Giro Tour.

In the years that followed although my assignment changed to the Women’s program after a few years, I was fortunate enough to work with Lance briefly on other occasions including the 1992 Olympics.  He was always wickedly talented, very funny, fiercely competitive and driven to accomplish his goals with the intensity of an army.  It was a pleasure to witness, from a close distance, as he developed into an amazingly talented athlete.

My strongest memory of Lance is from the World Championships in Norway in 1991 I watched from the spectator stands as Lance came out of a horrific driving rain storm to win his first major victory.  It was a vision I will never forget.  Even more etched in my mind is the memory of the intensity and connection I saw in the face of Linda Armstrong, Lance’s mother, the woman sitting below me  as she watched her son throughout this stormy dangerous race.

Years later after moving on from the traveling and excitement of professional cycling to life as a wife and mother I vividly remember reading in the newspaper that Lance had survived metastasized testicular cancer, was winning the Tour and had started a foundation.  Once again I revisited the memory of  the World championships, the day I watched the mother watching her amazing son.  Only this time my memory was filtered through a mothers eyes, this time as I read the story of Lance’s fight for his life I was holding my own son…barely two years old, my only son.  I felt so much compassion for his mother and was deeply inspired by his fight.

Cancer visited closer to home as it does eventually for most of us when my son was 7.  We witnessed my beloved Father in Law endure  several years of suffering  and ultimately his death from  Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (a blood cancer).   I decided that  joining Livestrong….standing up to say I will do my best to fight this disease, was a logical albeit heart driven perfect fit.