Riding for Roses

Lloyd is 86 and has been living with prostate cancer for 5 years. We met Lloyd when Spencer was passing out LiveStrong wrist bands and Peloton Project donation forms at Alamo Mobility Austin when we were picking up Rachel’s new van. This was on May 20, the day after Spencer saw Lance and he was still pretty jazzed about Lance, the Ride for the Roses, and fundraising. In fact, he made me wash his Discovery Team jersey on Thursday night so he could wear it again on Friday. Spencer was passsing out wrist bands and forms, asking for donations, collecting cash, checks, and promises while Rachel and I were reviewing how to work all the conversion gear on the new van.

Spencer met Lloyd in the waiting room and they talked about “stupid cancer” and how they both want to kill it. Lloyd was diagnosed with prostate cancer 5 years ago. He and his doctor talked about treatment possibilities and prognosis. Lloyd’s cancer is very slow progressing and the side effects of possible treatment are pretty significant. Lloyd decided not to have it treated. He told me “something else will probably kill me first” and his doctors monitor his cancer carefully to continually reevaluate the decision. Lloyd takes care of his wife. She needs his help and he’s worried about what will happen if he dies first, but more worried about what would happen if he became unable to care for her. Last year, he fell and broke his hip and he can no longer manhandle her wheelchair into the trunk of his car, so on May 20 he was in getting a wheelchair carrier attached to his car.

Talk about a LiveStrong attitude. I am, as I often am in the presence of cancer survivors, awestruck.

John at Alamo Mobility took a bunch of donation forms and I emailed him a picture of Spencer so he could put them out in the waiting area. If you happen to need an accessible van conversion be sure to stop by there, and when you’re there thank him for supporting cancer survivors.

I don’t know Lloyd’s last name yet, but I think I will in a week or two. He took a donation form from Spencer and said he’d mail in a check “not as big as I’d like, but as big as I can.” You can donate to support cancer survivors and be like Lloyd.