One thing often not mentioned in stories about Lance Armstrong is that he didn't go to a doctor until he was coughing up blood. This was despite having symptoms for quite some time. He mentions this quite clearly in his autobiography.
In other words, had he gone to a doctor earlier, it's quite possible he would have had a "routine" testicular cancer diagnosis with a much better prognosis and recovery.
I mention this because testicular cancer is more common than most people recognize and his story should be more a testament to "get checked early and often" vs "look at the power of the human spirit!".
I'd vote this up to the top if I could - this is all so very true. I'm a testicular cancer survivor myself, and I did the self exams and caught it early.
Caught at its earliest, testicular cancer is basically curable with a 99% 5 year relative survival rate. Even if you catch it early-ish, you're still looking at 96%. The odds take a big dive to 73% once it spreads. [1]
The self-exam is exceedingly easy to do, and once you get the hang of it you can do it in maybe a minute or two in the shower with near zero impact to your routine/schedule. [2]
In other words, had he gone to a doctor earlier, it's quite possible he would have had a "routine" testicular cancer diagnosis with a much better prognosis and recovery.
I mention this because testicular cancer is more common than most people recognize and his story should be more a testament to "get checked early and often" vs "look at the power of the human spirit!".