Hi friends! Today I have a very special story to share with you all.
As cancer seems to become more widespread these days, the majority of us have either lost loved ones to cancer or are currently going through the battle with them. We all know what a devastating disease this is. Having lost my grandfather to cancer and more recently seeing my hubby's grandma lose her husband to the disease, I like to share others' stories of survival and get the word out there about different types of cancer. It's a small offering, but it's something I can do to help.
SO! Please welcome Heather to Nugget On A Budget :)
Thank you {to my awesome readers} for taking the time to read her story and learn more about a rare and often fatal form of cancer that is becoming more and more common in young individuals, especially young women and mothers.
If you'd like to read more about Heather's story, or learn more about mesothelioma, you can go here.
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A Mesothelioma Story
“You have cancer.” When uttered by your doctor, those three words can feel like a death sentence and cause you to develop a perilous sense of fear unlike anything you have ever felt. I was given the diagnosis at one of the happiest times of my life, about 3 ½ months after I had a baby. I was a new mother and now I was being told I had malignant pleural mesothelioma cancer, a cancer that develops as a result of exposure to asbestos. I didn't know what to think when I was given my grim diagnosis because I had no idea how I had been exposed to asbestos.
“Asbestos? Wait… isn't that banned,” many people ask me when I tell them I have cancer. They almost always immediately follow with the question,” Where were you exposed.” Their questions lead me to explain that asbestos is not illegal and I became exposed through secondary exposure from the clothes my father wore to work. My dad was in the construction industry for years, doing drywall taping, sanding and mudding jobs. The dust that got onto his clothing was filled with asbestos. I became exposed because asbestos spread through his work clothes, jacket and car. Although the white powdery dust on his clothing looked harmless, it actually had millions of asbestos fibers that were too small to detect.
I was a rare mesothelioma case because I was a 36-year-old woman. Most patients with this form of cancer were older men who had worked in some type of trade industry. The form of cancer I have usually affects plumbers, mechanics, heating specialists, electricians and military personnel working on ships. It has become more common for wives with husbands in trade professions and secretaries in schools to be diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma today. Many wives became exposed to asbestos through washing their husband’s work clothes. They would shake out the clothing, causing asbestos fibers to spread. Many school offices also contain asbestos, which the secretaries are exposed to on a regular basis. The number of women being diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma has grown significantly in recent years.
I am one of an alarming number of women with this fatal type of cancer. A growing number of young people are also contracting the malignant form of cancer. I have heard of a number of stories of “daddy’s girls” who became exposed to asbestos because they hugged their fathers when they came home from a long day or wore their dad’s jackets when they fed the rabbits. Some girls spent time with their fathers after they came home from insulation jobs. These young girls never suspected that more than 20 years later, they would develop cancer.
Becoming a part of a mesothelioma community has helped me to get to know young people suffering from the same condition as I. Many of the men and women I have come to know are in their 20s and 30s. Their lives have been turned upside down because they are fighting mesothelioma at a time when they just got married, had children or started new jobs. There is hope for all of us because of recent advancements in medicine. More and more people of all ages with mesothelioma are surviving.
I hope that sharing my story will bring awareness about the issue. I want people to realize that mesothelioma isn't the death sentence it once was and give newly-diagnosed patients optimism that they too can survive and lead normal lives again.
Interested in connecting with Heather or helping her share her story?
Email her at lifesabanquet1 {at} gmail {dot} com.
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