It seems that in this day of age, almost everyone has battled cancer themselves or knows someone who has. I personally knew someone very close to me who lost her battle with cancer about 3 years ago. That didn’t stop her from fighting it and giving herself the best chance of survival that she could. Seeing her determination and knowing the choices she made makes me want to do a lot of research and look at all the options if I was diagnosed with cancer.
If I found out I had cancer, the first thing I would do would actually be what James O’Connor did; I would do a lot of research. I would read books and articles on the type of caner I had, I would talk to people who have that cancer (or had it if there is a treatment). I would talk to doctors and get at least a few of their opinions. I would research alternative methods that had been used in treating the cancer other then surgery, radiation, and chemo; I would also look into the success of those treatments. I would find out as much as I could so that it would help me to make the best decision possible.
All cancers are different, but I would be open to the option of radiation, chemo, and surgery if one or all of those proved to be the most successful in treating the cancer or gave the longest and best survival rate. If those types of treatment had little to offer, I think I would take an alternate approach. Now there is hypnosis, nutritional therapies, Herbal therapies, immune therapies, and these are just to name a few. Sometimes, those methods prove to be very affective.
After all the research and looking at all the options, I would make a decision from there. Maybe that means not going with surgery, but instead take a path with nutritional therapies. It might even be that the best results came form a combination of these therapies. If that were the case, I would definitely find a way of combining those methods. I think a key thing is also to have a good support system with family and friends who will help you get through these treatments. However, just as important is having a doctor who will help you with the process, even if it is going with an alternative type of medicine.
Getting a diagnosis like James O’Connor did is never easy. I think his research and really studying his options was a very wise thing to do. It was going beyond what just one doctor said, and finding a treatment plan that was best for him. If faced with a diagnosis like he was, I definitely want to look at all the options available. I would choose the one that I could handle and had the best outcome. It might just make the difference in having 3 months to live or 3 years.
By: Young, Jenny
