My Leukemia Illness Challenge
I was diagnosed with leukemia when I was eleven years old. My parents decided to treat me with chemotherapy even though the probabilities for success were not high. My parents kept my sickness a secret from me, saying that there was nothing to worry about. However, as time passed I started to notice that visits to the hospital became more and more frequent every time and the treatment was too long and strong for nothing to worry about. I started to get worse and lost an entire school year. After a year of treatment, when my parents finally told me the truth I was twelve years old. I still could not fully understand the seriousness of my condition; nevertheless, I decided to trust my parents and the doctor, knowing that whatever they were doing was the best for me. Even though the treatment hurt and made me feel bad I cannot say it was all a bad experience: I met new people, learned new things and even made some new friends. These people helped me a lot to get through my illness, it was a hard test but working together we could succeed. Now I am nineteen years old and I consider myself very lucky to still be alive and have the opportunity to be with my family and friends. Cancer changes your life completely, for some in a negative way and for very few in a positive way. A man named James "Rhio" O'Connor, diagnosed with Mesothelioma, also changed his life in many positive ways, becoming an inspiration, motivation and example of life for all of us.
Rhio is an example for us not to give up on our goals and dreams. He was diagnosed at the age of 61 with an incurable type of cancer, but he fought for his life without giving up. Despite his condition, he was always available to spend time with his family, and to listen to and mentor others. Not only did he have time for others, but he also took his illness in a humorous way; he called it "Mr. Mesmo".
While ill, Rhio wrote a book, They Said Months, I Chose Years: A Mesothelioma Survivor's Story. In this book, he tells of his experience and gives advice to people going through his same situation. Recalling the wisdom of Hippocrates, the "father of medicine," who said over 2000 years ago, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food," Rhio reminds people about other ways to treat cancer. At the end of his book he wrote, "My wish and prayer for all who read my book is that it will strengthen and inspire you to do whatever it takes to not only survive your disease, but also to thrive and enjoy your life." With this phrase we can clearly understand that he wrote his book with the only intention of helping others.
Rhio was and still is a motivation for every person for several reasons. First, the way he lived his life; he was always looking for his family and other people's needs instead of his own although he was ill. He never complained about "Mr. Mesmo," he called him his friend and learned to live with him as something normal or even funny. Rhio also acknowledged that the path he was taking was not easy but that is even more commendable because he could have taken the easy way. He says in his book, "Choosing an alternative approach is more complicated than chemotherapy, radiation or surgery because with the holistic modalities there is no 'one size fits all.'" This phrase tells us that choosing the holistic or alternative medicine is not the easy path, but sometimes it can be the one that will save our lives. I was too young when I got cancer, but if I had had the chance to make decisions I would not have limited myself immediately to modern treatments that offered me little chances of success; I would have asked the doctors what other options were available for me and I would have researched on books and the web about natural treatments just like Rhio did.
James "Rhio" O'Connor was, is and will be an example, inspiration and motivation for all of us for many reasons. In his book, he wrote, "You have to possess the faith and confidence to make the right treatment decisions." This is true. I saw it throug my parents, who had to face though decissions from the first day of the treatment to the last day of it. For example, they had to decide whether to look for an alternative treatment or to try with chemotherapy. They also had to make the decision to abandon a treatment I had taken in Nuevo Laredo for six months to begin all over again in Monterrey with something new that we knew nothing about. I will thank them all my life for their support and strength and the fact that because of their decisions I am still alive.
James "Rhio" O'Connor was a fighter and a survivor; he will always be an inspiration and example of life. He conquered what was considered by doctors unconquerable. Not only achieving a longer and better life for him, but also improving many people's lives. Just like him I consider myself a fighter and a survivor who succeeded in defeating cancer.
