Has Lance's Charity helped you directly? indirectly? how so?

[ggusta]

@runninboy goodness me! It's not you I'm attacking, and I'm sorry you read it that way. What i was trying to get across to people who decry the LAF is that it is unfair to deny the good things that are being done just because Armstrong is involved.

The time I was hunting for information, the resources that exist now were as yet unborn. I wish the LAF site had existed then. In no way am I ignoring the marvellous work the nursing staff do, particularly when the patients (my family, my friends) were in that intermediate phase when the oncologist could do no more and the nurses had to handle both the grieving and confused entourages as well as the person they had to help. They are etched in my mind, nurses and volunteers who were simply fantastic. The LAF as far as I'm concerned is merely a supplement, but I'm glad it's there. Anything helps, since there is a desperate need to know.

Sorry to be so longwinded, but it's me being emotional.

I feel really bad for you that the only place you could find help was LAF. It's almost like you had cancer in the 1940's and the LAF time traveled back in time to assist you. Services that you state didn't exist were very bountiful when my wife had cancer in the 80's. She had no awareness of the LAF time travel skills for the 80's too was well before the LAF and well before Lance's cancer but probably long after he started cheating at sports; but she did have the American Cancer Society and other sources and had the best care available at the time at little expense.

She had a great job with this tiny hamburger company that really stuck it's neck out to help her in her time of need, they were just a mom and pop outfit not one of these mega corp outfits that don't care about anything but the bottom line. They helped her grow from an hourly crew person to one of the best managers they ever had. One day the owner came to see her, fella by the name of Ray Kroc, but I digress.

So ya see, I find this story about LAF paving the way really about as likely as the Easter Bunny, but as RR said, the fact that LA is now exposed as a man who built an empire on a fraud, and all eyes are on the empire, he is really just 'driving the speed limit' these days so it is good news for people who actually need whatever services they do offer rather than just build the mythical messianic image of a fraud and a hoax and sprinkle a few dollars on its stated mission for show.

 

[thirteen]

This investigation has been the best thing that could have happened to Livestrong

In the past their main focus was promoting Lance. They wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on money that people thought was going to research to have big parties and promote the Lance brand.

Now, with the increased focus, they spend most of their money on legit programs that help people.

We should all thank Jeff and Travis for helping them regain their focus

is this true?

are they actually, finally, helping people who have cancer? even those that may, gasp, actually *die?

* a dead cancer patient, obviously, is not nearly as sexy as a survivor

 

[Race Radio]

is this true?

are they actually, finally, helping people who have cancer? even those that may, gasp, actually *die?

* a dead cancer patient, obviously, is not nearly as sexy as a survivor

Yes, they do.

They used to waste millions on programs that did little more then promote lance. They have trimmed much of that and now focus largely on largely effective programs. A few years ago they spent $6,000,000 on a single party. I doubt they will ever do that again.

They have reorganized their structure. Instead of having 3 entities that were designed to make them look more effective they now have one. Their annual reports are far more transparent. They highlight many of the programs and what they do, explain that their travel is not on Private jets

While it is unfortunate that they wasted so many millions in the 10 previous years but the last 18 months have been a positive change

 

[thirteen]

^

that's cool. i didn't know that. thank you.

 

[runninboy]

Yes, they do.
While it is unfortunate that they wasted so many millions in the 10 previous years but the last 18 months have been a positive change

Glad to hear that as well. I am sure there are alot of people with good hearts & excellent ideas within LAF. Let's hope they get a chance to shine now.

 

[Boeing]

I got some free condoms from my local clinic just after he donated 100K to planned parenthood.

 

[LauraLyn]

I have personally never been helped by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, LiveStrong, and I have never contributed to it (other than through taxes and perhaps buying postage stamps).

There is a good discussion here on Lance's foundation today, his role in it, and how people view it.

Since this thread is about your personal experiences with the LAF, you can also vote there: "Should Lance Armstrong Resign from LIVESTRONG?"

http://michaelrosensays.wordpress.co...ong/#more-1312

 

[jam pants]

Livestrong has helped increase my brand awareness of companies who buy into the Livestrong marketing pitch.

Livestrong is a branding and marketing vehicle. Prove me wrong.

 

[Zweistein]

Nothing and my mom had cancer. Awareness is a very vague goal. Not a lot of money actually goes to research or treatment like the MS foundation.

The thing I learned about the foundation is that if your organization is called livestrong.org and you have a private commericial website called livestrong.com you can put a lot of money in your pocket due to the confusion.

 

[LauraLyn]

Nothing and my mom had cancer. Awareness is a very vague goal. Not a lot of money actually goes to research or treatment like the MS foundation.

The thing I learned about the foundation is that if your organization is called livestrong.org and you have a private commericial website called livestrong.com you can put a lot of money in your pocket due to the confusion.

There may be less confusion than you think between LiveStrong.org and LiveStrong.com, at least in the mind of Lance Armstrong. For Lance it is all about Lance - and I think that cancer victims are again victimized by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

But yes, you are right. It is time for the confusion to get sorted out correctly and justly.

Hope you mom is doing better.

 

[Zweistein]

There may be less confusion than you think between LiveStrong.org and LiveStrong.com, at least in the mind of Lance Armstrong. For Lance it is all about Lance - and I think that cancer victims are again victimized by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

But yes, you are right. It is time for the confusion to get sorted out correctly and justly.

Hope you mom is doing better.

The part that burns is that it is intentionally made to be confusing. It is cool if Lance has his side stuff but to intentionally confuse it with the cancer foundation borders on unethical and is in the least a clear indication were he would rather have his supporters put their money.

 

[reginagold]

For at least 5 years LAF did fund grant applications for 1 or 2 year research projects dealing, broadly speaking, with physical and/or mental health issues faced by cancer survivors. They had several hundred applications most years, reviewed them, selected maybe 20 or so to fund in amounts up to 150 thousand US dollars.

 

[runninboy]

For at least 5 years LAF did fund grant applications for 1 or 2 year research projects dealing, broadly speaking, with physical and/or mental health issues faced by cancer survivors. They had several hundred applications most years, reviewed them, selected maybe 20 or so to fund in amounts up to 150 thousand US dollars.

Good to hear but that seems pretty vague, Did anything come of those grants?
Does Livestrong tout any results on their website as in "thanks to a funding grant we provided. cancer survivors are now able to ....?" I sure would hope so as success stories always help in the solicitation of new funds. Pretty quiet, I see alot of visibilty for Livestrong. Lately when i google just about anything medical Livestrong is among the first of the results. We all know you can pay to have those google results, is that where some of the money is going? So people see more of the Livestrong brand? It seems like visibility of Livestrong is it's main function. Today I saw a new Camaro with a Livestrong paint job. I wonder how much the driver gets for that? In Los Angeles, alot of actors rent their cars out like that. You get paid to turn your car into a rolling billboard.Again visibility is everything. Visibility is similar to "awareness" too. Hmmmm. If you make Lance the face of Cancer and you use him to raise "awareness" the marketing of Lance could be spun into a nonprofit situation. Could it be the creation of the for profit Livestrong.com and non profit Livestrong.org is used to try put out a spin of respectability in regards to the tax situation? If all you do is market Lance it is hard to make the case that you are a charitable non profit. The IRS would surely come knocking so you start a for profit version. Problem solved.

 

[oldcrank]

Good to hear but that seems pretty vague, Did anything come of those grants?

My understanding is that many/most of the grants
went to Big Pharma directly or indirectly...i.e. they may
have gone to a university, but to fund a study for a Big
Pharma company.

 

[runninboy]

My understanding is that many/most of the grants
went to Big Pharma directly or indirectly...i.e. they may
have gone to a university, but to fund a study for a Big
Pharma company.

I really can't respond without breaking the rules
and sending this to the clinic.

 

[clotho2]

If it had not been for Lance and his wife's advert on UK tv advocating men check themselves for testicular cancer regularly, I would not have caught mine at such an early stage. Because of that, the treatment was comparatively straightforward, and I am grateful for that. Whether the advert was from him personally or part of a campaign by the charity I don't recall though.

Doesn't excuse everything else though.

I'm glad you heard the ad and did something to help yourself. There are many who don't. Question: Do you pass along the advice you heard? Are you on the social sites so that you have followers and you can tell them now and then go have your PSA Screening? I am and I do. I tell men regularly go have your PSA and women to ask their Gyno to send them for an ab/pelvic scan. I had a cancer scare two years ago. It turned out to be a benign cyst that even with yearly manual checkups my Gyno missed. So it is clear women need the ab/pelvic scan as much as the mammo.

Now I just raised the cancer awareness of everyone reading this. And it didn't cost me anything other than the cost of my electricity.

I read a post in another site saying LAF was not an org that gave money. It used to in the beginning but that it was getting such a poor rating it revamped under the premise "Raising Awareness" and the rating is now "A-". But as you just saw it takes little or nothing in the www era to raise cancer awareness.

You're right runningboy an org that takes in the funds they do can certainly do more than copy someone lese's words. These sites all have the same topics with the same verbage.

I truly hope that the cancer patients who have attached themselves to those yellow rubber bracelets won't be disppointed with the release of USADA's report. But I think they will.

My family has not escaped this dreaded disease. My dad ded from metastatic prostate cancer. Two of his brothers as well. My daughter-in-law died from breast cancer. I have two brothers in remission from Prostate cancer, One brother battling metastatic prostate cancer. And Cousin and his wife battling cancer. Have I said to them check out LAF? Nope!

 

[runninboy]

I'm glad you heard the ad and did something to help yourself. There are many who don't. Question: Do you pass along the advice you heard? Are you on the social sites so that you have followers and you can tell them now and then go have your PSA Screening? I am and I do. I tell men regularly go have your PSA and women to ask their Gyno to send them for an ab/pelvic scan. I had a cancer scare two years ago. It turned out to be a benign cyst that even with yearly manual checkups my Gyno missed. So it is clear women need the ab/pelvic scan as much as the mammo.

Now I just raised the cancer awareness of everyone reading this. And it didn't cost me anything other than the cost of my electricity.

I read a post in another site saying LAF was not an org that gave money. It used to in the beginning but that it was getting such a poor rating it revamped under the premise "Raising Awareness" and the rating is now "A-". But as you just saw it takes little or nothing in the www era to raise cancer awareness.

You're right runningboy an org that takes in the funds they do can certainly do more than copy someone lese's words. These sites all have the same topics with the same verbage.

I truly hope that the cancer patients who have attached themselves to those yellow rubber bracelets won't be disppointed with the release of USADA's report. But I think they will.

My family has not escaped this dreaded disease. My dad ded from metastatic prostate cancer. Two of his brothers as well. My daughter-in-law died from breast cancer. I have two brothers in remission from Prostate cancer, One brother battling metastatic prostate cancer. And Cousin and his wife battling cancer. Have I said to them check out LAF? Nope!

First I am sorry to hear how heavily cancer has touched your family.
And I think your observation about sharing what you learn is invaluable advice. In this day in age there is so much potential to get worthwhile information to people quickly, which is potentially a life saving propostion. And as you said that sharing of info is not only invaluable but free.
To get away from Livestrong for just a moment, sometimes we get side tracked and live in relative ignorance about life threatening disease.
For instance I am a guy and one day i found a lump in my chest. I mentioned something to my mother and she revealed that my uncle had breast cancer and had a large tumor removed. Mine turned out to be nothing but the point is men do get breast cancer and about 400 men die of it every year in the US. Nowhere near the risk for women, but the point is how many of those 400 could be saved if more men knew it was possible?
Again the free sharing of information is a great tool and potentially life saving, thanks for reminding us all.

 

[simo1733]

I'm glad you heard the ad and did something to help yourself. There are many who don't. Question: Do you pass along the advice you heard? Are you on the social sites so that you have followers and you can tell them now and then go have your PSA Screening? I am and I do. I tell men regularly go have your PSA and women to ask their Gyno to send them for an ab/pelvic scan. I had a cancer scare two years ago. It turned out to be a benign cyst that even with yearly manual checkups my Gyno missed. So it is clear women need the ab/pelvic scan as much as the mammo.

Now I just raised the cancer awareness of everyone reading this. And it didn't cost me anything other than the cost of my electricity.

I read a post in another site saying LAF was not an org that gave money. It used to in the beginning but that it was getting such a poor rating it revamped under the premise "Raising Awareness" and the rating is now "A-". But as you just saw it takes little or nothing in the www era to raise cancer awareness.

You're right runningboy an org that takes in the funds they do can certainly do more than copy someone lese's words. These sites all have the same topics with the same verbage.

I truly hope that the cancer patients who have attached themselves to those yellow rubber bracelets won't be disppointed with the release of USADA's report. But I think they will.

My family has not escaped this dreaded disease. My dad ded from metastatic prostate cancer. Two of his brothers as well. My daughter-in-law died from breast cancer. I have two brothers in remission from Prostate cancer, One brother battling metastatic prostate cancer. And Cousin and his wife battling cancer. Have I said to them check out LAF? Nope!

What is PSA Screening?

 

[runninboy]

What is PSA Screening?

PSA screening has been the main way of diagnosing prostate cancer. Higher numbers had been thought to show a risk. But nowadays they have found that people with low numbers also develop prostate cancer. Many things can affect your PSA. It is thought for most men to get a PSA in their 40's so they can have a benchmark to compare later tests. My original test was very low, under 1. Three years later they gave me a PSA when i had a kidney stone and it was over 6. My doctor said not to worry. 2 weeks after the stone passed it was 1.2 and she assured me the numbers were just because of factors associated with the stone. Sure enough back under 1 now. So the PSA is not be all end all it used to be but is still helpful.

 

[clotho2]

My understanding is that many/most of the grants
went to Big Pharma directly or indirectly...i.e. they may
have gone to a university, but to fund a study for a Big
Pharma company.

...and those big pharma companies could easily have been developing something that an ex cancer patient was introduced to as a patient but now wants refined and researched for his nefarious purposes. Some of you still seem to underestimate lance armstrong and his desire to win. Perhaps you unknowingly harbor fanboy feelings and you think that because he won the TDF 7 times he is indeed a super creature. However, you must think, have you ever seen him race (deleted) Oops!

Okay, I'll move this to the appropiate forum later...

 

[runninboy]

WOW from what i have learned today I sincerely apologize for starting this thread. I was mistaken and believed Livestrong was all about Cancer awareness but according to Armstrongs lawyer i was misinformed.

It's all about being anti tobacco

Who knew?

 

[clotho2]

WOW from what i have learned today I sincerely apologize for starting this thread. I was mistaken and believed Livestrong was all about Cancer awareness but according to Armstrongs lawyer i was misinformed.

It's all about being anti tobacco

Who knew?

Isn't it too bad he wasn't anti something else.