Mr. O’Connor’s story of how he was able to live much longer than the doctors anticipated is very inspirational. My aunt was diagnosed with cancer in June, 2008. The next day, they told her it was in her lymph nodes. The following day, they said it was in her hips and she had six months to live. She was 58 years old and had been in pain for the last twenty years from an autoimmune disease. She immediately began planning for her death and started arranging her affairs. I would’ve given anything if she would’ve fought like Mr. O’Connor did. Too many people take the diagnosis as a death sentence and just give up.
With my aunt, I was very grateful for my massage therapy education, which allowed me to provide palliative care for her and her family. I was able to see firsthand what a positive effect good doctors and nurses can have on the patient and their loved ones. When she passed away in August, 2008, I realized that I want to help people more than I am able to as a massage therapist. I am fascinated by the opportunities to use complementary and alternative medicine alongside traditional allopathic medicine for pain management.
If I were diagnosed with cancer, I would want to try an integrated approach. After my aunt’s diagnosis, I searched for clinical trials. I was amazed at how many different ones there are. Although, there’s no guarantee that they work, I would pick the most promising one and do everything I could to participate in it.
I also toured Hippocrates Health Institute and was very impressed with their program. If my aunt had lived longer, my mother, cousin, and I were going to all go with her for several weeks. If it didn’t work, we’d all have quality time together and a chance to purge ourselves of negative emotions and toxins. They have exercise, meditation, a raw diet, juice breaks, wheatgrass juice, oxygen therapy, acupuncture, massage, workshops, a natural environment and doctors on hand to monitor you during the detoxification process. Their approach reminds me of how Mr. O’Connor was able to survive mesothelioma for so many years.
There are several places around the world that are known for their healing energy. I would love to travel with my family to as many as I could. Again, if it doesn’t work, it will be part of their healing process and make my death easier. At the very least, I would think it would help manage my symptoms while the clinical trial or chemotherapy/radiation is working. Most importantly, I want to live healthy and spend time with ones I love
By: Mesa, Christine
