I was very inspired by Rhio. It’s amazing how someone, who has just received a timeline for when you are predicted to die, can go above that and makes a living out of the time he has left. He was given a year to live and instead of giving up and giving in to mesothelioma he was able to find his own path to life and live more than six years with the cancer.
I would like to say I would perform actions similar to Rhio’s actions if I was in that situation but it would take a lot of energy and potential to be able to. If I had time to think the whole thing through I know I would be able to come up with how I would help myself but it would take a lot of power to wrap my mind around the whole idea. The one thing I know I would start doing is not leaving tasks and events until the next day or until I have time to do them, I would make time and get them completed so I am not left wondering what if.
My first step after I received my prognosis would be to sit down and make a list of what I have left to live for and keep that list close to me so I could consult it every time I was down or feeling blue; it would help me feel better and remind me why I want to keep going and not give into the battle with cancer. The next step would be to research about my cancer in the libraries and on websites such as www.survivingmesothelioma.com, to see what more I could learn about it and what it was doing to my body, then I would brainstorm ideas of how to help myself fight the cancer, if possible.
As for deciding what to choose for treatment I would use the research I had gathered, I would talk with as many doctors and specialists, traveling across the country if need be, to learn about all the different methods and ways to treat and deal with the cancer. Then after I collected all the information on different treatments I would talk with my family and other level headed people and have them help me decide what they feel would be the best manner to go forward with to treat the disease. I would look past chemotherapy, radiation and surgery if they were to be only slightly effective. If others felt there were more effective methods to use I would look into them. I would do research on each one to learn about the effects, good sides and bad sides, and where they had originated from or what they were based on. If one or more of these ideas seemed to be more likely to work than chemo, radiation, or surgery I would be willing to try it as a treatment and would go into it with an open mind.
With mesothelioma, especially until very recently, there was no cure for the cancer, so if you were diagnosed with it you pretty much knew any day could be your last. People who work with asbestos such as industrial laborers are the most prone to it and it usually does not show up until many years after the exposure occurs. Recently though scientific breakthroughs have produced ways to manage the cancer, to help patients live an improved quality of life and researchers have released new type of treatment therapies as trials. When Rhio was diagnosed in 2001 the breakthrough of new treatment options was not as readily available as it is now, but Rhio went above and beyond to create his own therapeutic protocol with clinicians and was able to develop the ability to exercise informed consent based on fact. Through this, his thorough research, and his belief in something greater than himself Rhio was able to live for many years with the “incurable” cancer.
In conclusion, Rhio is a great inspiration to me and I hope to share this inspiration with others. There really aren’t words to describe his inspiration but I now know that no matter how bad things are there is a way to overcome them. Rhio and his family should be proud of him for his inspiration of others. I am glad I found information on this wonderful man and hope you are as well. Please visit the link above to learn more about mesothelioma, James Rhio, and his inspirational story.
By: Mally, Elizabeth
