I must correct myself...I just looked this up and you are right...he met his wife after his cancer. I could have swron he was married at the time but who can keep up. My apologies for that error.
That's ok. I just wanted to set the record straight. Others have said the same thing, that he left the woman who stuck with him when he was so sick.
The woman who stuck with him when he was so sick was his mother, who has helped him over constant hurdles his entire life. He had a really hard life early on, and she has always been there. His father deserted his mother and Lance, maybe even before Lance was born, IIRC, so considering his early years, it's not surprising the issues he must still have from that.