Extraordinary Intellectual Effort
The life story of a remarkable man that I have learned about is the one of James “Rhio” O’Connor. Mr. O’Connor lived to be 69 years of age he passed away on July 11, 2009. He was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma ( Pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of mesothelioma, a rare cancer that develops in the mesothelial cells that make up the mesothelium, a membrane that lines many of the body’s organs and cavities. In the case of pleural mesothelioma, the cancer develops in the lining of the lungs, called the pleura or pleural membrane.) caused by his exposure to asbestos when he was younger. His prognosis was less than a year to live. Rhio rejected the idea that he had so little time to live. He was determined to survive this cancer and outlive it for as long as possible. Mr. Rhio survived for seven and a half more years through his determination, knowledge, inexorable spirit, belief in something greater than himself, and the ability to make tough choices -qualities that spell success in any endeavor.
In addition, if I where given a dire cancer prognosis? My emotions would be all over the place. There is nothing I think that would be more shocking or scary then being told you have a set amount of time before you die. Everyone is expected to die someday but if your given that chance to know when that day is I would take that knowledge and make the best out of that information just as Mr. Rhio did. Mr. Rhio a normal person just like everyone else was given a prognosis. He took the prognosis and used it to create a time line as to where he would tell himself he was going to work harder to live find better ways to live make the best out of his life and prove all the doctors and people wrong that doubted him. That he indeed had a longer life to live. For some people and even I myself would have accepted that fact that death was near and would have just simply gave up. But now as I read about a man who says that he wanted more from life I think giving up would have been far to easy. I would agree that all I would need to do is change my ways of life if I wanted to live longer. A healthier everything would have been a healthier me ,such as eating healthy, exercising, sleeping healthy, and healthy blood pressure and cholesterol. There are many different ways to stay healthy. If my prognosis requires different treatments I would research about people that have the same symptoms as me and fit my chart of capability. I would only undergo a treatment if the success rate was very high and widely recommend to get the most benefit for future purposes and not just getting better now.
Moreover, I would consider chemo , radiation and surgery as a final option I would start these treatments if I start to worsen and more problems start to occur. Typically, patients will receive a combination of two or more of these types of treatment. According to some current studies, approximately 10 percent of all pleural mesothelioma patients will survive for three to five years following diagnosis, and about 5 percent will survive five years or more. Early detection of pleural mesothelioma can improve a patient’s mesothelioma prognosis considerably, and these patients have more extensive treatment options. If the disease is diagnosed early enough, surgery to remove localized tumors, followed by chemotherapy or radiation therapy to kill any remaining cancer cells can be an effective treatment. So I encourage everyone to get your check ups and make sure that your tested and healthy.
Finally, making the right decisions can be very hard especially when your under pressure to make them. I think that when making decisions about your life the first thing you should consider is how can it better you before it betters someone else. Look over your research and make sure that you have decided that the results of your treatment will be very good. Then you can consider the opinion of your spouse and closest family members. Knowing that your about to die can be very scary seeking out a counselor can help you and your family coupe with what is yet to come also on how to coupe with your reactions. Stories such as James “Rhio” O’Connor’s are just examples of how you can take something in life that had the potential of being very bad, but has change it to make history in being very good for other people to know. Showing other people that giving up should never be an option.
By: Calixte, Wildod
