Tragically the word mesothelioma is becoming more and more well known,
the mere mention of it striking fear into all of us for we know that
it is associated with death. Asbestos is the reaper, mesothelioma its
hand maiden.
How it comes?
Asbestos, the wonder product of the fifties is now recognized as an
enemy of the twentieth century. A ruthless enemy which will kill more
people than the war. Men, women and children will fall victim to its
prey, innocents who have at some time in their lives inhaled asbestos
dust.
Most of us have been in contact with products containing asbestos in
our life times. We sat in asbestos class rooms, stood beside our
fathers as they cut asbestos fencing, pulled up old linoleum with
asbestos clogged to the back of it. Visited the local tip where broken
sheets of it lay open to the wind.
Records show that there are a higher number of people afflicted with
asbestosis and mesothelioma who have directly worked in asbestos
mines, ship yards and companies making products from asbestos; however
there are a large number of people afflicted, who have never worked in
these industries. Their contact with asbestos, due to the dust brought
home on their husband's clothes or from the asbestos tailings placed
around mine houses and town perimeters. But the tragedy does not end
there, children innocently playing in their own back yards played
amongst the asbestos tailings as children elsewhere play in the sand.
They had no way of knowing that their sand was asbestos blue. A good
bath at the end of the day may have removed the dust from the skin but
the dust in the lungs remained and would lay dormant for many years
before claiming its deadly legacy.
Mesothelioma symptoms
Without warning, a healthy individual suddenly becomes short of
breath, x-rays reveal fluid on the lungs and the night mare begins.
Questions are asked and you answer, Yes, I was exposed to asbestos
dust but I was only in the town for a few short months and that was
over 40 years ago. How can this be? This is the most perplexing thing
about mesothelioma. Why is there such a long period of time between
inhalation of asbestos dust and onset of the disease? What triggers a
strong healthy body to suddenly succumb to it? What can we do to
prevent this from happening?
Blood tests are now available to determine whether mesothelioma is
present in the body, before a person is aware of any symptoms. This is
an amazing breakthrough and perhaps the first step towards curing the
disease before it becomes terminal. Recently mesothelioma was cured in
a mouse and attempts to give it back to the mouse were unsuccessful.
This too is exciting stuff and holds a glimmer of hope for us all.
Mesothelioma stories
I have witnessed first hand the devastation of mesothelioma. My
husband was a strong and virile man who rarely had a sick day in his
life. Suddenly at the age of 52 he became short of breath and was
subsequently diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma. He had lived in the
asbestos mining town of Wittenoom in Western Australia for a few short
months at the age of seven. The asbestos dust he inhaled then, took
forty five years to become lethal. I still find this hard to believe.
Despite his prognosis of three to nine months, Brian survived for two
years. He was 54 years old when he died.
Do you have a story... why not tell us???
No comments:
Post a Comment