We had originally signed up to be part of the “Welcoming committee”. IU Cancer Center had invited the cyclists of the community to come and line the red carpet to enthusiastically welcome the guests as they arrived. Since we were now “guests” we asked our daughter if she wanted to continue on the “welcoming committee”. She did. Having not received the official information when to be there… we knew that the cyclists were to be there from 5pm till 7pm. So a friend came and picked Madison up and took her to the event while we dressed. We arrived at 6pm, which was evidently early. But that was not a problem, as this gave us more time to interact with the cyclists, of whom we knew nearly ½, or they knew us.
Walking up the red carpet, dressed in formal evening attire, flanked on both sides by enthusiastic cheering friends was almost like it was 16 years ago when Ken and I marched down the isle as husband and wife for the first time. We stopped and talked and hugged people. Our daughter was one of the first to greet us. Followed by Sue Nuyeda and our good buddy Gary Shmitt, who told us about the event in the first place.
They day was very hot. The sun very bright, even in the later evening hours you could feel the heat, but this did not deter the cyclists from enthusiastically greeting each and every guest as they promenaded down the gauntlet of red carpet. Some were very modest and appeared uncomfortable, eyes cast down, and others were “high five” ing as they went through the colorful display of jerseys and flags. You could feel the excitement as the cyclists awaited the arrival of Lance Armstrong. The featured speaker for the evening.
But as time passed, (7:45pm) Lance had not arrived on the red carpet. There was understandable disappointment visible on the now weary members of the welcoming crew, as they had been standing nearly 3 hours in the hot sun cheering and waiting. The reception was now moved indoors, and the cyclists were invited to come inside, as Lance was already in the building. He had opted not to be welcomed on the red carpet. The cyclists stood at the back of the dinning hall and listened to the speeches. Hopefully they found this reward enough for the time they had spent in anticipation of his arrival.
We had already been seated when we saw the cyclists file in. Seeing our daughter in their number, I immediately rose to go to the back of the room and take her by the hand and lead her to our table, where she sat on her father’s lap to listen to the speech.
Dr Einhorn started the evening’s events by welcoming everyone, reminding everyone that this was a fundraiser, and to please notice the envelopes on the tables for donations. He talked about the Cancer center, and how the George family had donated funds to the cancer center, and thanked the Colts for donating the facility for the evenings events.
He then talked about the history of testicular cancer and platinum. He introduced John Cleland, the first patient to use platinum in a clinical trial. He talked about clinical trial, and research, and transitioned to Lance, and his coming to the IU cancer center.
Lance came out, and talked about spending the day practicing in the pace car. He made some jokes about the fact that Morgan Freeman had gotten a pace car up to 150 mph, but he could only get the car up to 130 mph. And tease Tony George about the changing technology.
He talked about Major Taylor, as he segued from racing, to Indiana, and then to the IU Cancer Center. The Speech was similar to the one he gave at Conseco several years ago, talking about the great breakthroughs in cancer research by Dr. Einhorn and the IU cancer center. He talked about his treatment being out of the ordinary, and talked about clinical trials, and followed up by asking that more money is needed for research.
After the talk, there was a helmet exchange between Lance, Tony George, and Steve Saturday from the Colts.
Dr. Einhorn then did a question and answer with Lance. This was quite good, as it was unrehearsed. Lance talked about the difficulties of being Lance, traveling to promote cancer research.
The final event of the evening was a video about the IU cancer center, Dr. Lehrer, his work on treating colon cancer, and one of his patients, Buddy Mc Atee. This transitioned into the presentation of the torchbearer award was presented to Buddy Mc Atee, a stage 4 colon cancer patient that has been fighting his cancer for over 18 months.
Dinner had been delayed by all the speeches, to accommodate Lance’s busy schedule while in town for the 500, but the dinner was well worth the wait. They did a fantastic job on the food and the decorations. We were seated with the 5 other survivors and their guests who had received tickets via the drawing. I was very fortunate to have already met the couple seated next to us and knew in advance that we would very much enjoy their company. Listening to the stories of treatment and triumph of the survivors at the table was just another testimony to the fact that life is worth living, and worth living with the right people.
I feel very blessed to have the people in my life to share in my experiences.
Walking up the red carpet, dressed in formal evening attire, flanked on both sides by enthusiastic cheering friends was almost like it was 16 years ago when Ken and I marched down the isle as husband and wife for the first time. We stopped and talked and hugged people. Our daughter was one of the first to greet us. Followed by Sue Nuyeda and our good buddy Gary Shmitt, who told us about the event in the first place.
They day was very hot. The sun very bright, even in the later evening hours you could feel the heat, but this did not deter the cyclists from enthusiastically greeting each and every guest as they promenaded down the gauntlet of red carpet. Some were very modest and appeared uncomfortable, eyes cast down, and others were “high five” ing as they went through the colorful display of jerseys and flags. You could feel the excitement as the cyclists awaited the arrival of Lance Armstrong. The featured speaker for the evening.
But as time passed, (7:45pm) Lance had not arrived on the red carpet. There was understandable disappointment visible on the now weary members of the welcoming crew, as they had been standing nearly 3 hours in the hot sun cheering and waiting. The reception was now moved indoors, and the cyclists were invited to come inside, as Lance was already in the building. He had opted not to be welcomed on the red carpet. The cyclists stood at the back of the dinning hall and listened to the speeches. Hopefully they found this reward enough for the time they had spent in anticipation of his arrival.
We had already been seated when we saw the cyclists file in. Seeing our daughter in their number, I immediately rose to go to the back of the room and take her by the hand and lead her to our table, where she sat on her father’s lap to listen to the speech.
Dr Einhorn started the evening’s events by welcoming everyone, reminding everyone that this was a fundraiser, and to please notice the envelopes on the tables for donations. He talked about the Cancer center, and how the George family had donated funds to the cancer center, and thanked the Colts for donating the facility for the evenings events.
He then talked about the history of testicular cancer and platinum. He introduced John Cleland, the first patient to use platinum in a clinical trial. He talked about clinical trial, and research, and transitioned to Lance, and his coming to the IU cancer center.
Lance came out, and talked about spending the day practicing in the pace car. He made some jokes about the fact that Morgan Freeman had gotten a pace car up to 150 mph, but he could only get the car up to 130 mph. And tease Tony George about the changing technology.
He talked about Major Taylor, as he segued from racing, to Indiana, and then to the IU Cancer Center. The Speech was similar to the one he gave at Conseco several years ago, talking about the great breakthroughs in cancer research by Dr. Einhorn and the IU cancer center. He talked about his treatment being out of the ordinary, and talked about clinical trials, and followed up by asking that more money is needed for research.
After the talk, there was a helmet exchange between Lance, Tony George, and Steve Saturday from the Colts.
Dr. Einhorn then did a question and answer with Lance. This was quite good, as it was unrehearsed. Lance talked about the difficulties of being Lance, traveling to promote cancer research.
The final event of the evening was a video about the IU cancer center, Dr. Lehrer, his work on treating colon cancer, and one of his patients, Buddy Mc Atee. This transitioned into the presentation of the torchbearer award was presented to Buddy Mc Atee, a stage 4 colon cancer patient that has been fighting his cancer for over 18 months.
Dinner had been delayed by all the speeches, to accommodate Lance’s busy schedule while in town for the 500, but the dinner was well worth the wait. They did a fantastic job on the food and the decorations. We were seated with the 5 other survivors and their guests who had received tickets via the drawing. I was very fortunate to have already met the couple seated next to us and knew in advance that we would very much enjoy their company. Listening to the stories of treatment and triumph of the survivors at the table was just another testimony to the fact that life is worth living, and worth living with the right people.
I feel very blessed to have the people in my life to share in my experiences.
posted by Cindi in Indy | 8:24 AM
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