One can only imagine what it feels like to hear the words, you have Cancer. With a diagnosis so powerful, it affects everyone around the person who has been diagnosed. It starts with the doctor who has to be the bearer of the news and ends with their loved ones. I have experience loosing a loved one to a deadly disease as well. My mother passed November 25, 2005 of AIDS. To this day, I feel like she allowed the disease to defeat her. My father was diagnosed with Asbestos in 2000 and he is determined to stay here as long as he can. Although this research is not about loved ones faced with a deadly disease, but they are the reason I choose to educate myself and others.
What would I do if faced with the same challenge that Mr. James “Rhio” O’Connor faced, I would first and foremost give all honor and glory to Jesus. He gave me life and He has a divine right to decide my time here on earth. With Jesus as my pilot, I will have the strength, wisdom and courage to live life as if I am working to find a cure for someone other than myself. I failed my mom when she was diagnosed. I choose to think that her life was at an end and didn’t realize that it could have been just the beginning. Cancer will be my new best friend. I will surround my self with those with cancer, those that are in remission, and those who are terminal. I will research everything there is to know about Cancer and become a national spokesperson.
I was told at an early age to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. This is why I choose to make Cancer my best friend. I will research the internet, library and visit hospitals to find ways to cure Cancer or prolong to process of it spreading throughout my body. It is also important to change the way I eat and exercise. Researching types of spices, herbs, foods and drinks will also keep me healthy. I will also research the possibilities of acupuncture and massage therapy may have a connection to remission.
Surrounding myself with those who are walking in my shoes will keep me uplifted. You can find out ways of coping with the illness, treatments that may or may not have worked and it is an opportunity for my family to become acquaintances with their family. It’s a circle of support which benefits everyone affected. This will help my family deal with the issue with me by begin apart of research. This will encourage them to continue the fight after ran my race.
Becoming a spokesperson will give me the opportunity to connect with people all over the world and teach what I have found in my research. I will join and become a member of many organizations such as Cancer Monthly, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and American Association fro Cancer Research (AACR), Pink Ribbon Support, to name a few, that’s dedicated to showing their commitment to the cause.
It’s amazing how one can live life and only become truly affected when it affects one directly. Cancer has no one type of person to effect. It can happen to anyone at any given time and if we continue to remain heartless and choose not to become apart of something of such magnitude, makes one just as cancerous. Our destiny does not choose us, we choose our destiny! We must fight the good fight.
By: Hollis, Gladys
