Filed under: Cancer Survivors
Jothy Rosenberg never wanted to be a hero. In the 1970s, he was a kid who was interested in girls and sports.
At 16, though, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and given a choice – to have his leg amputated or die. Within hours, doctors removed his leg. Unfortunately for Rosenberg, his specialist was used to working with older patients with weaker blood flows. The surgery became more complicated than necessary and now, though he is a grandfather, his phantom pain still rages.
Rosenberg struggled to learn to use his prosthesis, but his determination and strong will – sometimes confused with stubbornness – made it possible for him to learn to maneuver on his new leg or, when that didn’t work, without the prosthesis.
By the time Rosenberg was in college, the horrific bout with cancer seemed like a distant memory. Then, it returned. This time, there were no options. Chemotherapy, which was in its primitive stages, would extend his life, but his doctors didn’t know by how much. After several rounds of treatment, Rosenberg had to stop his treatment because it was affecting his heart.
If he was going to die, he said, he wanted to go down fighting. He moved to Utah, began skiing daily, built up his strength and never looked back. It’s been more than three decades since the move, and Rosenberg is, miraculously, alive.
He tells his story of moving past ordinary, defying the odds and coming out on top in “Who Says I Can’t?” Rosenberg sat down with AOL Health to discuss his disease, near-death experiences and competitive edge.
AOL Health: Why did you first write the book?
I wished I had had this book when I was 16 and 19 and dealing with cancer. I couldn’t find anyone to identify with.
AOL Health: After your initial diagnosis, how did you get over the anger?
What basically happens is that you ask yourself what good is it to be angry? And, what is it doing to other people? At first, you feel like a leaper, and you’re angry about what happened to you. You have to redirect your energy so that you can still feel like you’re fighting.
AOL Health: In your book, you discussed defining a new normal. Can you discuss that?
It took a couple years, and the prosthesis was a huge help because you feel that you’re no longer singled out. Then, you have to focus on what you can do. Your body makes up for the parts that are missing, in my case my leg, with gaining strength elsewhere — in my other legs and arms. I don’t believe that you can live a normal, healthy life without self-confidence. The first thing to go is one’s self-confidence whenever you face a setback, and you need to find a way to get it back.
AOL Health: Throughout the book you say that you don’t want to be looked at as a good athlete, husband, business man, etc., “considering” your disability. What does that mean?
I’ll compete with anybody at anything. I went skiing with my 80-year-old dad, and people were staring at me and saying they were surprised that I was skiing, “considering” my handicap (Rosenberg skies with one ski because it’s easier than skiing with his prosthesis). The way to get rid of the word is to fight hard enough. You have to focus hard enough that you become competitive – and not just competitive with others in your condition, but competitive. Period.
AOL Health: Let’s talk about your swim at Alcatraz. You swim from there to San Francisco once a year.
It’s a very intimidating swim. We’re talking about a huge body of water that you have to jump eight feet down into. From Alcatraz, the city looks really small, the waves are huge and the water is cold. The first time, I was as nervous as a cat. It’s very hard to navigate because everything looks the same when you’re in the water and within 10 minutes, everyone spaces out. You just put your head down and go for it.
Luckily, my friend was faster than I was the first year. He went up to the beach, grabbed my crutches and got back to the water with them. The shore was filled with people right up against the water. He walked into the water with my crutches and as soon as I got to the point where the water hit my knee, the crowd could see that I only had one leg and a giant roar went up among the crowd. It was amazing, and I thought to myself, “I just swam away from and island that no one was supposed to be able to swim away from.”
AOL Health: What is it like to be an inspiration to others?
It was a complete accident — but once I figured out that it was true — it became like a drug. It’s so rewarding, there’s nothing that’s more of a compliment or makes me feel better about myself than hearing someone tell me that I was an inspiration. Occasionally, when I’m competing in bike races, there are people who will say to me that they saw me fight hard up a hill and knew that they couldn’t give up. When I passed them, they had to push themselves harder.
Check out more information at AOL Health.
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