(CNN) -- CNN.com readers are sharing their stories of sickness and survival in response to a commentary written by cycling great and cancer survivor, Lance Armstrong.
He's founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help empower people with cancer and to campaign for more government funds for research and treatment.
Here are more e-mails, some of which have been edited for length and clarity.
Kerry Dewey of Missoula, Montana
This past October 2 marked my 21st anniversary as a breast cancer survivor. And for these last 13 years, I have been in continuous treatment for metastatic disease. Not continual as in on-and-off -- but continuous, as in nonstop. I call it "My Dance with Cancer": Round and round we go, year after year. Sometimes the cancer leads; sometimes I do. The steps can change. The tempo can change. But the dance will continue for the rest of my life. I am part of an invisible population: It's not that we -- those of us who live with cancer and those who die from it -- don't exist. It's more that nobody sees us. The public doesn't see us because that could chip away at the myth that breast cancer caught early is always cured. Public relations events and materials don't see us because we represent what is seen as negative images of illness or death. And the politicians certainly don't see us or they would realize that most of us vote. Impatient? I am way past impatient.
Wendy Wools of Indianapolis, Indiana
The year 2006 was my first year being touched by cancer -- and what an initiation. My boyfriend's aunt was diagnosed early in the year and passed away within eight months. My mom was diagnosed, operated on and is now officially a "survivor." My dad had a scare, but the biopsy turned up negative. A co-worker of mine was diagnosed and is fighting the disease. But what strikes me is how different each cancer is and the lack of knowledge about that fact in the mainstream. We just hear "cancer" and get freaked. There is so much that can be done to treat cancer and there will be more survivors only if more research and education funding is made available.
Alan Eastman of Hanover, New Hampshire
I am a cancer researcher who also expends effort trying to increase federal dollars (our dollars) to fight cancer. Imagine what the cost of one aircraft carrier could do for cancer research! Please everyone, keep up the pressure.
Karla Ricker of Belfast, Maine
I think it is all about money and the drug companies' bullying ways. They are making so much money on cancer -- and that is the priority! Drug companies should not be allowed to lobby on Capitol Hill. I have a family member who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Only slightly more than 30,000 new cases of P.C. are diagnosed each year, which means this cancer has managed to fall through the cracks. What that also means is very little is known about the cause, early detection and effective treatment. Take it from someone who is feeling this personally right now -- This just isn't fair! Thank you, Lance, for standing up to the bullies!
Debra Kolts of Marshfield, Wisconsin
One year ago my husband sneezed and broke two ribs on New Year's Day. He later was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. The past year has been very hard, to say the least. Although there are new treatments, none target just the cancer cell -- therefore the treatment in many cases makes the patient sicker than the cancer. We are praying for more funds for research to not only eliminate cancer, but to target the cancer cells and make treatments more tolerable.
Bruce Parsons of New London, New Hampshire
This past November I celebrated the 25th anniversary of the last day of my cancer treatments in 1981 for testicular cancer. I went through surgery to remove my left testicle followed by months of radiation treatment. In that era, radiation was very broad and I was radiated in my good testicle, bladder and kidneys. The cure rate was also much lower than today. There were times daily that I felt the cure was worse than the disease. It was from having cancer that I learned what was really important in life. To this day I live by the credo, "Plan for tomorrow, live for today and cherish the ones you love." Every day is special and important and wonderful to be alive.
Craig Gloede of Poughkeepsie, New York
I'm 37 years old and a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in October of 2005. My treatment involved surgery and later I opted for radiation since my cancer was found in Stage I-a. My advice to all of those out there battling cancer is to have a positive attitude. I kept reminding myself that there are plenty of other people going through worse treatments than mine. The most important thing that I have learned is that having family and friends support you. Attitude is half the battle! LiveSTRONG!
Linda Collier of Belleville, Illinois
I just lost my 36-year-old daughter because of breast cancer. More and more young women are being diagnosed with breast cancer. More research needs to be done to find a cure and laws need to be changed about when a woman can get a mammogram. Cancer is a nasty disease and to watch someone you love die from it is devastating.
Diane Fellenz of Ocean, New Jersey
I commend Lance for speaking out, but if he were a politician he wouldn't get my vote. Until the pharmaceutical-research firms and the various foundations for cancer awareness stop looking at cancer research as a cash cow that amounts to billions of dollars we are never going to find a cure --- it won't be profitable. So, Lance, keep on talking the talk and walking the walk, but don't expect the government or those who profit because there is no cure to step up anytime soon.
Jennifer Heatley of Pepperell, Massachusetts
Just what we need! Someone who uses their celebrity to say something real. I lost my mom eight years ago to cancer. She was 56 and had no health insurance. She was passed from doctor to doctor for more than six months before a young emergency room doctor ordered her first set of CAT scans. I believe in my heart that had she had insurance someone would have listened and maybe she would not have lost her fight, leaving five children and four grandchildren. Thank you, Lance, for speaking out, and may all of us continue to hold our elected officials accountable.
Jake Collins of Houston, Texas
It's nice to see someone making public the lack of scientific funding for cancer. As a cancer researcher and a graduate student, I have experienced this firsthand. And I would like to point out that scientific advancement is certainly not limited by a lack of an educated workforce, but rather is limited by funding. Currently, the number of PhDs is far greater than the number of research jobs available, because of the lack of government funding. And for me and many other students pursuing a PhD in biomedical research, this issue discourages our commitment to continuing our education and staying in research, knowing that our time and skills are likely to be wasted.
Emily Rossie of Ayer, Massachusetts
My mother, 88, and my husband, 53, were both diagnosed with cancer ten days apart. My mother (Stage IV ovarian) lived six weeks and my husband (Stage IV metastatic gastric) lived 11 months before the disease ended their lives. Cutting funding for cancer research is unconscionable. Just think what strides might have been made in cancer research if even some of the $400 billion spent taking lives in the war in Iraq had been spent to save lives by funding research and providing healthcare support to the victims of this horrible disease and their families. Shame on you Mr. President. I hope you never have to watch a loved one go through the agony of chemotherapy. I hope you never have to stand at the bedside watching as that last breath is exhaled. I hope you never have to stand beside a casket and say "I wish that there was more that could have been done." Because, Mr. President, there is much more that can be done and you and Congress have the power to make it happen. Are you up to that challenge?
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