James Rhio O'Conner Scholarship Essay

James "Rhio" O'Connor died from Pleural Mesothelioma. I am sure if given the chance he would have chosen another way that was less painful and had a longer course to run. Mr. O’Conner worked with asbestos, which was not unusual then just as working with fiberglass is not unusual today. Because of its physical characteristics, asbestos was used in everything from children’s pajamas to cigarette filters. It was known since the ancient Greeks that asbestos was harmful; the Roman naturalist Pliney the Elder pointed out that the lungs of the miners were ruined when they spent too long mining asbestos. In this country asbestos was known to be harmful at the turn of the last century, but it was difficult to find an affordable substitution. The fibers are inert, therefore safe to eat, but when inhaled they become lodged in the lungs, irritating the pleural membranes. As the body tries to absorb them it sets off a series of events that eventually lead to cell mutation and cancer. When the body tries to envelop these cancer cells, the pleural membrane thickens and produces secretions. This in turn leads to a pressure buildup that reduces the body’s ability to exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide. The patient will experience chest pain when breathing, shortness of breath, and the inability to tolerate exercise. He’ll start sweating, maybe coughing up blood and start to lose weight. Sometimes the cancer will undergo metastasis, moving to the bones. This was fairly common with Mesothelioma because it usually wasn’t diagnosed until it reached a higher growth stage. With the strangulation of the lungs and the bone pain, this is not a good way to die. Perhaps some took solace in the fact the life expectancy was only six to twelve months after diagnosis. There have been the rare few who found a way to continue and enjoy life. (See: Paul Kraus Surviving Mesothelioma by clicking on the title of this essay.)
“You should take your wife on a cruise, and then come back and we’ll have your Hospice care ready to start.” When Mr. O’Conner heard that he was a little shocked. I say this with some insight because my wife was diagnosed with an Astrocytoma and given six weeks to live. They told me to take her to the Bahamas. Like Mr. O’Conner, my wife thought there was a little more to life than just rolling over and dying. They both took matters into their own hands and beat the odds, Mr. O’Conner for seven and a half years, my wife for seven. I can’t speak to Mr. O’Conner’s attitude and outlook, having never met him, but I can tell you a little about my wife’s: Any Day Above Ground Is A Good One. She also employed dietary changes, vitamins, Reiki, meditation, relaxation, and relied heavily on her spirituality. It is true that the force is within us, to paraphrase Hippocrates, to make ourselves well. Perhaps the greatest tool she had was laughter. We would sit for hours some days with tears rolling down our cheeks which distressed the doctors to no end, but deeply amused the nurses.
My wife was diagnosed a year before Mr. O’Conner, and I was amazed at the willingness of the doctors to discuss alternative modalities. As with any cancer, single modalities are ineffective on their own, so there are often multi-course treatments, until the stage of palliative care. We were referred to acupuncturists and aroma therapists who were employed by the hospital in the oncology department, driving home the fact that there is no such thing as false hope. Like Rhio’s battle with M. Meso, my wife called hers “Astro” and chose to think of herself as living with Astro, rather than dying from it. They both chose to buck the trend and do what they thought was best, regardless of what conventional wisdom dictated. My wife was a nurse and had taken care of oncology patients and knew firsthand the cost and effectiveness of conventional treatment yet chose the path less taken. This is not surprising given her willingness to try new things with an open mind, and I get the feeling Rhio was cut of the same cloth. The pills my wife took for her seizure control were the only ones that she couldn’t do without, thusly her dietary plans modified to exclude certain herbs that either potentiated or negated their effect. She was wise enough to understand plants are drugs just as drugs are plants for the most part.
Linus Pauling, Wilhelm Reich, Copernicus, Galileo and others were scoffed at and branded as heretics because their beliefs flew in the face of the weak-minded followers who were afraid to step out of line. Rhio stepped out of line, and I’m fairly sure he took some flak for it. My wife was fortunate enough to have progressive doctors who encouraged her on her mission. They took great pride in showing her off to their colleagues during our hospital visits as if to say: “Look, it can be done!” It was the church who burned the first heretics, then the government, now it is insurance companies that mete out the punishment. Some doctors don’t get paid if they suggest or encourage alternative or complimentary therapies. According to the Republic Broadcasting Network there will be fifty BILLION dollars spent this year on cancer drugs in this country. The average price for twelve week’s worth of cancer drugs is over twenty thousand dollars. The American Cancer Society budget is less than one billion dollars, with total research estimated at less than ten billion dollars. It is not financially responsible to fund a cure for cancer when drugs like Avastin ($9,000/month) can prolong life by almost twenty-five days. In 2004 the total spent on marketing was estimated at $57.5 billion, while R&D was estimated to be $31.5 billion. To be fair, that research by The Organic Consumers Assn. included cancer drugs in with the top 100 prescribed drugs. The insurance companies control the pay rate per procedure in the hospitals, dictating what choices you have as a patient.
No one owns my attitude or outlook any more than they owned my wife’s or Rhio’s. I can believe what I want, as could they, and I can choose whatever methods I see fit to help me if I need help. I am sad Rhio is gone and I’m sad my wife is gone, but I am not sad they met life head on and stole the better part of a decade from death. I am encouraged by the acts of the few strong individuals who stand up and fight on their own terms, refusing to submit to linear thinking and extrapolated scenarios concocted by financiers. I take heart knowing there is more than one way to do things and maybe the simpler way is the best. I am glad Rhio got the word out about complementary and alternative modalities and truly believe he will be responsible for more people living better, longer.