Mesothelioma: A Killer in the Family

Ten years ago, I had never even heard the word. Five years ago, I abruptly learned how to say the word. Today, I still struggle to spell the word, but that did not stop it from killing two people that I loved very much. Mesothelioma crept into our family and slowly with tragic and painful consequence killed my aunt and uncle. It is hard to believe that so many people have never heard of this disease.

If you are anything like I was all those years ago, you are wondering what the word mesothelioma even means. Mesothelioma is a relatively rare form of cancer that attacks the mesothelium; a membrane that surrounds our internal organs. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 2,000 new cases of this disease are diagnosed in the United States each year and the number continues to grow. Although it is more often diagnosed in men, it can be diagnosed in either men or women at any age.

As you can imagine, if a disease is considered somewhat rare, one often wonders how it is that they or their loved ones happen to contract it. Mesothelioma is most often associated with people that work around asbestos. Asbestos has been used in a variety of settings and products throughout the years. Not only have the people that work around asbestos been impacted, but in some instances, their family members have inhaled the tiny particles when their loved ones arrived home from work with it on their clothing. This was the case with my family members. Asbestos use is much more closely monitored by the government today than it was years ago, however, it is still utilized in the United States.

Once diagnosed, mesothelioma can be extremely expensive to treat. The website Mesohotline.com reports that sometimes it can cost between $400,000 - $800,000 for oxygen, drugs, pain medications, and other forms of treatment. Treatments can include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy or a combination of these methods. As well as treatments, doctors often need to remove fluid from the abdomen cavity or lung area, simply so the patient can breathe. In the case of my aunt, she had one lung removed as well as chemotherapy. When the disease came back, she could not have the other lung removed and as she began chemotherapy for a second time, her body just became tired and she did not survive. My uncle did not receive treatment as the time between diagnosis and mortality was very short. It was not easy to watch two vibrant and relatively young people struggle for every breath only to lose to the disease in the end. In a three year period between 1999-2001, more than 7,500 people died of mesothelioma in the United States according to Mesohotline.com.

My family will never again forget the word mesothelioma. Unfortunately many people that have not heard of it today, will in the years to come. The number of cases are expected to continue to grow for the next few decades. If this disease has done nothing else for myself and my family, it definitely makes me look more closely at chemicals that we use today and the impact they might have in years to come on our lives. They important question is, will it make you look more closely?

SOURCES

Mesothelioma: Questions and Answers - National Cancer Institute, April 18, 2001, www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/mesothelioma

Mesothelioma Statistics , www.emptyflask.net/mesothelioma-statistics