A Second Could Make A Difference
Rhio O’Conner was an individual who was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare type of cancer disease that was formed in the tissues surrounding the body’s organs and the abdominal area. He was given only one year to live since it’s an “incurable” disease, however, he was able to live with mesothelioma for more than six years. O’Conner made this possible by intense research of this rare disease, and in believing in something greater than himself.
From my point of view, there is nothing like knowing that this type of individuals exist today because now a days humans complain about any little struggle, a simple cold, a twisted ankle or a normal headache, when people like Rhio O’Conner are, not complaining, but fighting to win their battle against cancer. He has not only inspired me to become a stronger person no matter what type of obstacles are placed in front of me, but to see things in a different way, instead of only their negative side. I now know that if I am ever diagnosed with any type of deadly disease like mesothelioma, I still have that small possibility of, maybe not surviving it for a thousand years, but, at least, for longer than what the science will diagnose me for. Also, if I were to choose between chemotherapy, radiation or surgery, I would rather conduct my own research by going to different parts of the world, interviewing other with rare cancer diseases and especially with mesothelioma, reading books from all over the world, talking to others who have already been through chemotherapy, radiation or surgery, and their post-experience. As a result, I would be committed to seek and find answers my self like O’Conner did and then determine what process to go through.
I am in the process of completing my first year in college, which has not been easy to do, and to be honest I have complained about homework, quizzes, tests, and final exams, yet I’ve accomplished most of my goals regarding to final grades. On the one hand, I relate my self with Rhio O’Conner because even though I have faced certain obstacles in my life I have accomplished a lot of my goals. On the other hand, he is someone I will respect from now on because I am absolutely positive that I have not faced any major problems as O’Conner has, and simply the way he over came them makes you realize how much you have yet to live and learn. If I were to be diagnosed with mesothelioma now, without being aware of Rhio O’Conner’s testmony, I would probably not want to talk to anyone, lock myself in my room, drop out of college, and isolate myself from friends and family, because “there would be nothing to live for, or look forward to”. However, now that I have become aware of the possibilities of living longer, while simply living in the moment and not stress about the future, I have came to a conclusion that if I am meant to develop any type of disease, curable or incurable, deadly or not, I will keep on living my present life like I have been doing, study about that disease more, interview, and if possible help others that are going through the same disease or something similar. I will remain strong and try to be stronger, and if I only get to live one more second, minute, hour, day or year, I will not be angry with life but grateful that I got to live a little bit longer.
Making a decision of getting chemotherapy, radiation or surgery must be extremely difficult because not only are you putting your life in danger but wasting your time, which maybe wouldn’t be the correct way to see it but, one, in that situation must also be realistic about how dangerous the disease is. However, I feel that if I was put in a situation where I had to choose one, I would rather do a deep research about, for example, mesothelioma, myself, and then make that decision according to the information that was collected. For this research of my own I would go to Mexico, Canada, Europe, China, Asia, Africa, Australia, and states within to interview as many people going through the same situation. I would also interview as many doctors as possible, visit libraries, museums, and hospitals to look for answers or at least clues to help me make that one decision. Of course, if one doesn’t work, another one might but all three choices are dangerous for the body and risky, so why not get it right the first time?
Also, not only would I get “physical” help but emotionally and spiritually as well. The reason being is because a lot of the times being spiritually healthy will help the body fight against any type of disease or getting any complications. If you are spiritually healthy you will gain a sense of relaxation, calmness, happiness, and a certain type of arousal in your body, which will make you feel like you want to live, and will strengthen every organ system. Unlike being stressed out, angry, or depressed, which will alter your nervous system and weaken your immune system, and could lead to a complication in any type of deadly disease. This could be accomplished by going to a psychologist, taking spirituality classes, yoga classes, meditation classes, talking to your closest family member or friend, or simply by learning to be by yourself, reflect on everything that stresses you, and then just clearing your mind from everything and having faith.
Consequently, Rhio O’Conner is someone who deserves to be recognized because of his tremendous effort in fighting mesothelioma. Even though some of us could be or are diagnosed with it, but won’t or don’t succeed at living those extra years, O’Conner has showed us to accept whatever is “killing” us, research it and learn from it, but mainly that at one point or the other we are all going to die, that there are many people who die before one with cancer does. As a result, we have to live in the now and not let anything put us down, and if that self more powerful than us decides it’s our time to go and that we have helped as much as we could in Earth then that means it is our time to depart.
By: Ortiz, Sochy
