“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”-Vincent van Gogh. Looking at this quote you find several meanings and examples of what Rhio O’Conner did throughout his life. He had the will to fight for his life and the knowledge to get him there. He had the choice to weep around when he found out that he was diagnosed with a deadly cancer and given a year to live. O’Conner had self determination and knew that life has been given to him for a reason.
“Cancer is a word, not a sentence.”-John Diamond. For a doctor to tell someone that he/she had a prediction of the probable course or an outcome of a disease can shut one’s determination down. The first step in that comes into mind to a person would be to give up and mourn around. The best way for someone that was diagnosed with cancer would to look at it in a positive way like O’Conner did. Instead of weeping around look for ways that you can contribute and help save lives. Rhio O’Conner is the opposite of what a normal person would do. He took it to another level, he chose to research his cancer and find ways that would help him live longer than the average person diagnosis with the cancer. From reading O’Conner’s story, it would inspire me to fight the cancer as well. I would ask questions to my doctors, I would go to the library and look up information on the type of cancer that I had. I would try to make a diet that revolves around the cancer’s health and try to live life like I never had knew I had cancer. When you think about it, living everyday as knowing you had cancer can be tiring and stressful. But if you live each day like there was no tomorrow, it can reveal your pain and comfort to the whole situation.
I would conduct my research in varies ways. I would start off with going to the library and looking up information on the cancer. By taking notes I can then ask questions to the doctors about the different treatments and their advantages and disadvantages. Knowing this I can try the different treatments as well, there is always looking up other ways to know about the pro and cons about the treatment. I would probably look towards the traditional ways of martial arts. For example like Tai Chi, it originated from the Chinese. Tai Chi is a mind-body, self-healing system that uses movement, meditation, and breathing to improve health and well being. In the article “Tai Chi- an energy therapy for cancer patients,” explains the differences about how Western doctors would look for physical or chemical problems, whereas the Chinese would look for hidden forces that were out of balance. In the article it is said that Tai chi strengthens the immune system, relaxes the mind and soul. To be determined in finding the right treatment for the cancer I would try the top best treatments, but as well do something for the body. Get the mind and soul involved with the treatments instead of putting chemicals into it. I would look beyond chemo, radiation and surgery if they had little to offer. It would just make me work even harder to my goal and make me stronger.
First of all I would gather all my information on what I did throughout my quest for treatments for the cancer. I would give them my life story about how at times I would want to give up, and realize how there’s much more things I can do with my life. “Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.”-Emory Austin. But the things that do not kill you makes you stronger. You just need to look deep into yourself and find the will to keep on moving forward. I would say the things I went through and give them the information of the different treatments that I encountered. Like the days that I lived to known and became of. And give them encouraging words like Rhio O’Conner did to all the patients that he inspired.
Rhio O’Conner has inspired me to see what a human being is capable of doing when times get rough.
By: Jones, Kanisha
