Rhio O'Connor Scholarship Essay

      "They said months, I chose years" is a powerful statement made by a man with a powerful spirit. A man who never gave up when he was diagnosed with mesothelioma and given less than a year to live. A man who won despite the odds. With his determination, admirable discipline and inner strength he managed to beat his dire prognosis, and inspire others to achieve their own victory through self help and knowledge. James "Rhio" O'Connor inspired me, too. And I would like to share my story with you...

     I live in an old apartment complex which was built with materials that contain asbestos, a chemical known to cause mesothelioma cancer. How do I know this? Because the warning was part of my lease agreement, and I signed it. Exposure to asbestos may lead to the development of cancer cells which grow in the mesothelium, or the lining of the body's internal organs (www.survivingmesothelioma.com). Even though I am aware of the risks that I'm taking, I try not to think about the possibility of being diagnosed with mesothelioma. As a new immigrant to the United States, I started from scratch and needed a cheap place to live in order to afford the high tuition cost of my American education. And I feel blessed to do all this today because if I had believed the negative information that many health professionals gave me, I would have never been able to travel and enjoy an active life...

     Six years ago I was diagnosed with Meniere's disease, an inner ear disorder which severely affects a person's hearing and balance. It all unfolded at the same time when my grandfather was battling with his disease- pancreatic cancer. His doctors had told us he only had five months to live. And my doctors told me that although my attacks were incapacitating, the disease itself was not fatal. The bad news was it had no cure. 

    For a while, it was convenient for me to be a victim. How could this happen to me at such a young age? I was only eighteen. I couldn't go to school and spend time with friends because I was experiencing frequent attacks of dizziness, ringing in my left ear and fluctuating hearing loss. I had to stay in bed and avoid eating because the vertigo made me very nauseous. When the attack was gone, I could go back to my normal life but every time I laughed, my chest hurt from vomiting for hours the day before. 

    The first six months I did everything I would do if I were diagnosed with mesothelioma. I met with a myriad of clinicians who gave me different prescription drugs for all the symptoms. I had brain scans, x-rays, many balance and blood tests and none of these could determine the cause. I was desperate, and so were my parents.   

     My grandfather, on the other hand, never gave up hope. He loved life. When we found out he had cancer, our family was crushed. But not him. He was always inspired to keep on fighting no matter what life was throwing at him. He taught me some valuable lessons. The most important one was that having the right attitude towards everything you do is probably the most valuable asset you can have. I realized that it's all about how you look at the situation. Do you see the glass half-empty or half-full?

     That is when I tried to think of my disease as a challenge and not as punishment. I realized that by overcoming the odds, I gained inner strength, and my spirit helped my body feel stronger, too. Along with my best friend, I started searching the Internet and reading about the disease. I tried different things that people with the same problem in other countries were using. The more I understood my symptoms, the more successful I was in coping with them. For example, camphor helped my dizziness and lemon juice relieved nausea. I used exercise and meditation to bring my positive attitude back. My Mom made me an aromatherapeutic pillow with marjoram, wild thyme and lavender which helped at times of sleeplessness and when feeling nervous.

     We did the same thing for my grandfather. We started using alternative medicine to boost his immune system. Just like Rhio O'Connor, he learned what treatments were offered and what their side effects were. That is why he never underwent chemo. The surgery he had at the beginning was unsuccessful because there were metastasis in other parts of his body. So we tried to help his body heal on its own. Instead of further weakening it with toxic treatments, my grandfather strengthened his immune system with highly nutritious foods, and treatments that came from nature. Treatments that were very different from those that people invented not to cure others but to profit from their pain. 

     It turned out that conventional medicine had given him a poor prognosis and very little chance to fight it. Alternative medicine, on the other hand, proved much more effective. He used herbalism to harmonize his body and attack the tumor. For example, the herb "Cat's claw" made him feel stronger and helped his apetite.  Cat's claw is a type of woody vine which grows wild in the Amazon rainforest. Its use dates back to the Inca civilization and it is believed to have a stimulating effect on the immune system. 

     The most important herb that he used is called "Euphorbia Pallasii" and it is used to prevent the growth of cancer cells. After my grandfather had been drinking the extract from this herb for several months, his x-rays showed that something had stopped his tumor from spreading. It was not clear whether this was just the herb's effect or a combination of all the herbs and his diet regimen. What matters is that at the time, he wasn't taking any pills. 

     Many similar stories have been reported in different countries. For example, a mesothelioma patient took a medicinal mushroom, called Agaricus blazei Murill Kyowa (ABM), and his tumor disappeared to the amazement of his doctors (http://www.survivingmesothelioma.com/news/view.asp?ID=0083).

     In my case, what helped me was Eleutherococcus senticosus, known in the US as Siberian ginseng, and Gingko Biloba. Eleutherococcus is used by some cancer patients for its immunogenic qualities and Gingko is believed to improve blood circulation which was very important for my inner ear disorder.

     I wanted to write about these herbs because they helped both me and my grandfather. He was given five months to live. I was told my disease had no cure. He lived six more years. And I am a happy and healthy young woman today. My best friend and I created a website while I was still sick and we included all the information that we gathered during that time because we felt the need to share it with other Meniere's disease patients. James "Rhio" O'Connor wrote "They Said Months, I Chose Years: A Mesothelioma Survivor's Story." and Paul Kraus also shared his personal journey in "Surviving Mesothelioma and Other Cancers" (http://www.survivingmesothelioma.com/). Because it helps to let other people know that if you can do it, they can do it, too. 

     I learned a lot from my disease. I learned that health may not be everything, but everything is nothing without it. I also learned that things do happen for a reason. And most importantly, I learned that life presents us with many struggles, and we suffer. But just like the vine must suffer to produce great wine, and the shell suffers as it forms beautiful pearls, we also suffer in order to grow stronger and learn to appreciate what's truly valuable in life.

Final Feature Broadcast video for extra credit

Copy Edit the World

Professor McCune, I've included a couple more pictures for extra credit on the Copy Edit the World post. Thank you!

Focus story exercise

Lillian Garland does not appear to have any physical disability whatsoever. She is playing with her five-year-old daughter in their living room and looks like any other young mother. And yet in 1981, Garland lost her job on the basis of a very popular medical condition which is still legally described as a "disability". A condition that 55 million working American women might face at some point in their lives. Garland was pregnant. She became pregnant while she worked as a receptionist at the California Federal Savings and Loan Association in LA and when she was ready to go back to work, six weeks later, her employer told her the position had been filled and refused to offer her another job.
The bank's action violated the 1978 California Fair Employment and Housing Act, which states that employers must provide up to four months unpaid leave for any "female employee affected by pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.' Garland sued California Federal under theCalifornia law and the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-2 Tuesday to uphold it. But the ruling came five years after the birth of Garland's baby.

Fish out of water

Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose, the Bay Area’s South Indian classical dance company, presented their 2009 Fall concerts “Nritya Sangati: Dance Progressions.” on Saturday at San Jose's Mexican Heritage Theater. The concert was held at 7 p.m. and featured the work of special guest composer Kartik Seshadri and choreography by Abhinaya Artistic Director and Founder Mythili Kumar, Rasika Kumar and Malavika Kumar.

The event was presented in the Bharatanatyam-style, which is one of the oldest of the classical dance forms in India, also known as the fifth Veda. The name depicts the combination of: BHA- Bhava (Expression), RA- Raga (Music) and TA- Tala (Rhythm), and is known for its grace, purity,and sculpturesque poses. "Nritya Sangati" is a dance which features vignettes of Indian immigrant women.

As a viewer of this amazing spectacle and an outsider to this rich culture, I was convinced that Indians use their body as a medium of communication; their dances conveying thoughts and emotions. Some of the dances depicted food-gathering and harvesting as well as other rituals and traditions. I could tell that it was the experience of their unique dances than united all the people who had gathered in the theater to share something which distinguished their culture from all other cultures. Indians believe that dance has been created by God and given to people as a gift, and therefore it is considered divine. And even though many Indian families are dispersed in different parts of the world, they proudly preserve their dance traditions as part of their national heritage.

The style of dancing also seemed closely connected with religion. The main theme was the victory of good over evil. The Fifth Veda is used in reference to the foundation of the Hindu religion and philosophy, and some of the dances were performed by beautiful women whose dance moves expressed rituals such as the waking of the Gods or chasing away bad spirits from the temple. Throughout the whole performance, male and female dancers seemed to follow intricate patterns and geometric poses with incredible speed.

The second part of the spectacle featured modern stories of immigrant Indian women who struggle with homesickness and the need to assimilate in new communities. The dancers literally told stories using their fingers to create meaningful gestures. Another impressive thing to observe were the costumes of colorful silks, and the jewels on the dancers. Overall, the concert was an amazing experience and I highly recommend their next event which will be on November 15th at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.

 

IMHO # 2

Yesterday, my media law professor mentioned something which shocked me to the core. She said that following the 9/11 attacks, different compensations were paid to the victims, depending on their annual income. Thus, the high-paid Wall Street executives' families received millions while other families received much less. All 43 workers at the Windows on the World restaurant in the Trade Center were killed and their relatives did not receive any financial help because the victims were in the country illegally or their relatives were afraid to ask for help because they were illegal.

Ken Feinberg was the administrator of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. In that job, he had to put a price tag on the dead. He had to decide what people's pain and their relative's role in society were worth. According to a testimony of Feinberg, families of 2,880 victims received $5,996,261,002.08 in compensation; in addition, 2,680 physical injury victims were paid $1,053,154,534.56 by the 9/11 Fund. The average award for a death claim was $1,267,880.49; the average award for a physical injury claim was $392,968.11. Information on the exact compensation of families of Wall Street executives is very hard to find but most documents state that the number is substantially higher.

The businesses which were affected received an average of 23.3 billion for property damage, according to the 173-page analysis by the Rand Institute for Civil Justice which examined the compensation system. This is 61 % of the overall benefits !?!? Property damage thus has a higher price tag than the loss of human lives.

I understand that the way compensations were distributed depended on the economic hole created by the loss of a person’s life. But it turns out that even in death, Wall Street still stands higher than Main street and rich people's lives apparently seem to have more value than poor people's lives. And in my humble opinion, this is not ok. What happened to the American Creed that "All people are created equal"?

Word of the week # 10

1.    Coulis
2.    Read it in a Food Network's recipe.
3.  "Food Network invites you to try this Lemon Mousse with Blackberries and Raspberry Coulis recipe"
4.    A thick sauce made with pureed vegetable or fruit and often used as garnish.
5.    Topping off a delicate dish with a simple coulis can bring it to perfection.