Asbestos
Continued from previous page
32 April 2016
For centuries, the asbestos tragedy
has been told in dollars and data, often
diminishing the human cost of this
man-made disaster – but our personal
stories are inarguably hard to ignore.
I want to share a bit about the personal side of
my journey, not for sympathy, but so you can
better understand the motivation behind the the
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization's
(ADAO) work today.
Mes-o-the-li-o-ma. Can't Pronounce It,
Can't Cure It.
Thirteen years ago everything seemed perfect.
I was married to the love of my life and was a
mother to our beautiful, ten-year-old daughter.
However, in 2003, my life took a sharp turn in
an ill-fated direction – one that too many have
traveled down.
Alan, my husband of 20 years, had developed a
slight, persistent cough, and had also lost some
weight. Intuitively, I thought something was
wrong.
During Alan's routine physical, an x-ray re-
vealed a pleural effusion – fluid between the
lining of the lung and the lung itself. Alan suf-
F
fered through a glut of tests to determine what
was causing the effusion. For nearly one year,
every test was negative, but Alan's breathing
and cough worsened. Finally, Alan underwent
surgery for an idiopathic condition.
When the thoracic surgeon met with me after-
ward to discuss the procedure, he asked if I
was alone, and my heart nearly stopped. He
told me that Alan had mesothelioma, a cancer
only caused from asbestos exposure.
I had never heard of mesothelioma, I couldn't
pronounce the word, and worst of all, I learned
it was incurable.
Hidden Secrets. Killer Lies.
Alan's diagnosis was pre-smartphones, so I
had to wait until that night to search the web for
more information
Shockingly, I learned that asbestos caused a
number of deadly diseases, not just mesothe-
lioma. And, late that night, through my tears, the
hidden secrets and killer lies began to unfold.
Betrayal, rage and devastation enveloped me
when I also learned that mesothelioma is a pre-
ventable cancer.
