The Choice Is Mine

The Choice is Mine

There are many unexpected challenges we must all face in this world. Most of us are taught as a child to get over those obstacles and jump through life’s hurdles one at a time. Sometimes those hurdles are fifty feet tall and it feels impossible to take a leap. Your feet stick to the ground as you hesitate and look inside yourself for the extra spring of confidence to give you a head start. There is no way out other than up and over the obstacle. This is when you are faced with two options. Give up and let the problem overwhelm you or fight the odds and jump fifty-five feet in the air. James “Rhio” O’ Conner did just that. When he was at the age of 61, Rhio was diagnosed with a type of cancer called mesothelioma and was given only a year to live. Rhio was able to postpone this deadly cancer for six years using his own methods of therapy, working against the odds of professionals and chemotherapy.

I find myself wondering what it would have been like to step in Rhio’s shoes and make the decisions he had to. If I was given the diagnosis of less than a year to live because I had cancer my mind would first fall to chemo. Until now, I would have thought that was my only choice if I desired to live. After reading about Rhio and his courageous effort to create his own path of medicine I have reached new thought levels. If I were diagnosed with a cancer the first thing I would do is pray and cry. Then, I would research the effects of radiofrequency according to the work of John Kanzius because medical scientists managed to burn 100% of all the cancer cells in the liver of a rabbit with this method.

I wouldn’t stop there though because I prefer natural remedies with herbs and simple lifestyle changes. Vegetables worthy of study such as Daikon radish leaves, Burdock root, green tea, and carrots would be my top choices for herbal research.  A further step I would take is making a few trips to different physicians who deal with cancer every day to find their opinion on treatments other than chemotherapy and radiation. I would converse with the patients of those doctors and acquire helpful information about what they have gone through with different treatments. The opinion of the patients would be more significant to me than the outlook of the doctors because physicians learn from experience with their patients.

My decision for a treatment would be based on which one comes with the most effectiveness according to my research. I have always found myself going with my gut feeling no matter what and listening to everything my body tells me. Therefore, I would also base my decision primarily on what my body feels I should do. When people in chemotherapy are put in the unnecessary pain and miserable lifestyles, I believe that is a way of their bodies telling them it is not working to their advantage. How do we tell when we are sick or having an allergic reaction? We are overcome with nausea, coughing, sneezing, rashes, etc. When people have these symptoms they do what they can to get out of the situation. Mainly, they rest their bodies one way or another. Why should cancer be any different? It’s still just an illness that can be fought. I would feel as if I was giving up if I resorted to chemotherapy.

There are so many options to look toward if put in the situation of any deadly disease. If the doctors told me I was going to die, I would cry and feel petrified beyond belief. I would have to keep telling myself that turning to chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery would kill the time I have left faster by making me miserable. I deeply admire those rare, wonderful people such as James Rhio O’ Conner who break out of the ordinary and look beyond dangerous medical procedures. It takes courage, research, self-determination, persistence and support to make this possible. That is one of the strongest ways to help find future cures for cancer. All it takes is one special person to bring everything together and take a leap of faith over that fifty-foot hurdle. If I was diagnosed with cancer, I would strive to be one of those special people.

Works Cited
“James  ‘Rhio’  O’Connor Memorial Scholarship Fund “. Cancer Monthly. February 12, 2010 <http://www.cancermonthly.com/scholarship.asp>.

By: Endres, Noel