#WorldLungCancerDay – These Are My Scars

I am long overdue for an update, but that will have to wait (just a little longer). I am posting today because I think this message needs to be heard. I tend to focus on my niche in lung cancer, but the truth is, its a big wide open field. For a very long time (think since the 80’s) the survival rate has remained pretty stagnant with few exceptions. So when one hears the word Mesothelioma, you can understand the fear it strikes on one’s heart. It was March 1998 when my family got the news my father was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma and given months to live. To his credit, he survived 16 months. Since that time, and for a long time, treatments didn’t change and neither did the prognosis. Until now. Screen Shot 2018-08-06 at 8.53.39 PM

On August 1st, it was Lung Cancer Awareness Day, I was supposed to post this then, but I held on to it deliberatly to make a point. Every day is Lung Cancer Awareness Day for me and my family, and for all those who have been touched by this terrible disease. So I post this today, because August 6th is Lung Cancer Awareness Day as is the 7th and 8th and so on.

The second reason I post this is because many people out there who have been diagnosed or have a family member who has been diagnosed may not realise that asbestos exposure at the work place is a work place hazard, and that often, there are class action Screen Shot 2018-08-06 at 8.56.14 PM suits or government programs (although they don’t advertise!) to help support both the patients and their families. In Canada where I live, asbestos and its products are not
manufactured or in use, however, oftentimes exposure can come from old materials such as drywall, pipe fittings, or coatings. So if you are planning on a renovation, or work in construction, it is wise to be aware of potential exposure. Asbestos is stable until it is disturbed, so it is advised that you contact an inspector or a remidiation company prior to any demolition or work. I will post some links to information and contacts at the end of the post. Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I welcome you to read the following article: Mesothelioma doesn’t have to be a death sentance, by guest author Gregory A. Cade of the Environmental Litigation Group, P.C.

I have worked as an attorney who specializes in mesothelioma, asbestos and environmental law for over twenty years, and in this time my firm, Environmental Litigation Group, has helped more than two hundred thousand clients. I have spoken to many people and I have learned about their lives, experiences, fears, I became close to my clients and I have learned what most people think when they hear that they have mesothelioma.

First of all, it is important to define what mesothelioma actually is, as some readers might not have heard about it until now. Mesothelioma is a rare, very aggressive type of cancer that develops after asbestos fibers enter into a person’s body. This disease is extremely volatile, in the sense that it can metastasize extremely fast and it can take either a few months to a few decades for the cancer to develop, after being exposed to asbestos. There are 3 main organs where mesothelioma can develop: the lungs (pleural), the abdomen, liver, spleen and intestines (peritoneal) and the heart (pericardial). There are rare cases in which mesothelioma develops in other parts of the body, such as the testicles.

Throughout my career as an attorney, I have met many people diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, the most common and aggressive form of this type of cancer. It is always heartbreaking to speak to them because you always feel and see the fear and hopelessness in their eyes. Many people would see a cancer diagnosis as equal to a death sentence. On top of that, because of its aggressiveness, since they are diagnosed mesothelioma, patients are usually expected to live between 6 and 18 months. This is why, most clients come broken and defeated, having already given up on the fight with the disease.

I believe that this is an incredibly wrong and dangerous mentality! To every person sick with this illness that comes through my door, I tell them to keep fighting, to never surrender. I personally know people who have lived over 10 years with mesothelioma. They do sports, go outside, eat at restaurants and they look great! Nobody would even think that they have cancer. As cliché as it may sound, I believe that cancer can be beaten and that nobody should ever give up hope.

In the last years, more and more treatments are becoming available to help cure cancer patients, or at least extend their lives. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy, although they yield results, are not the only options anymore. There are precise surgeries which remove damaged tissue, medical trials that can help people, there are blood transfusions to strengthen the immune system, there are pills which help fight the disease and keep it from spreading. All of these methods are worth trying as they can be the difference between life and death.

Of course, because mesothelioma, and cancer in general, are such aggressive diseases, patients adopt a fatalistic approach towards life. I want to urge people who may find themselves in this unfortunate situation to keep pushing forward! There are so many wonderful things to explore and if you are given a chance to do them, why not take it? Indeed, there are odds that the cancer will still progress, but even so, remain hopeful! Some clients who combined exercising with healthy eating and regular treatment have survived for more than 5 years, some even more that 10! They have watched their children grow, have remained with their loved ones, have explored the country and they have grown as a person. So I must emphasize once more, keep on fighting, hoping and taking care of yourself because cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence.

Asbestos Information: Screen Shot 2018-08-06 at 8.55.41 PM

In Canada:

USA:

International:

Spanish

http://4safenv.state.nv.us/sites/default/files/assets/docs/asbestos-factsheet-spanish.pdf

A very special thanks to Gregory A. Cade of the Environmental Litigation Group, P.C. 2160 Highland Avenue Birmingham, Alabama 35205 (760) 696-7959

Be well,

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Screen Shot 2017-08-01 at 12.55.01 AM — The Forum of International Respiratory Societies

Honour, Unite, Inspire. It’s 12:01, the dawn of the 6th World Lung Cancer Day and I struggled trying to write this. I wondered if I should write about numbers and facts, or maybe about how lung cancer is the most common cancer globally*. That of the estimated 1.8 million new cases (in 2012)*, most (58%) occur in less developed countries*. That it is the most fatal cancer globally*. However, it might be more meaningful to tell you what “Honor, Unite, Inspire”, means for me, a lung cancer patient.

Screen Shot 2017-08-01 at 12.55.19 AM — Pan-African Thoracic Society

I write and share about living with lung cancer is because, I truly feel that if my experience, struggles and joys can touch or inspire just one person, then I have done my job as a good human. I think back to when I was diagnosed, and throughout treatment, I felt so very alone. I think of all the people out there with that same diagnosis, and how they too must have felt isolation and loneliness. I think about all the questions and fears I had, and no one to advise me, or let me know that what I was feeling was normal. I needed blogs like this, connection to patients who have survived and were surviving. Back then, it was hard to find. Now, not so much. Thankfully, but we still have work to do. Its for this, we have a Day like today.

Screen Shot 2017-08-01 at 12.55.27 AM — American Thoracic Society

Everyday I am blessed to see, I get to honour those who have given me strength, those who live with this disease, and those I have lost to it (sadly there are so many). Their courage and grace, push me to be better and instil me with passion to advocate for others living with this disease. It helps me channel anger in to action, frustration into hope. One of the reasons I advocate is so that those who are newly diagnosed don’t have to. So that they won’t fall into the cracks, and so that they don’t have to face the stigma of their diagnosis. There it is, the “S-word”, that assumption that lung cancer is our fault. That deadly misconception, that impedes compassion and funding. That idea that adds unnecessary stress

Screen Shot 2017-08-01 at 12.56.10 AM — European Respiratory Society

and shame on a patient and their family. It is for this, we need a Day like today.

It has been over 8 years since my original diagnosis, I know that I am alive in part to where I live. I am very lucky to live in a country that has a health care system that is accessible to all of its residents. I know it isn’t perfect, we have problems too, but its still pretty damn good.

Screen Shot 2017-08-01 at 12.56.21 AM — American College of Chest Physicians

Therefore, it would behove me if I didn’t point out the disparity between first world nations and developing nations. We are often so focused on our own problems, that we forget to think of those of others. Here, we might concern ourselves with accessing the latest and greatest treatments, there they may worry they will get treatment at all. Many countries don’t have the infrastructure and provide basic care, people may not get

Screen Shot 2017-08-01 at 12.56.39 AM — Asian Pacific Society of Respirology

a proper diagnosis, let alone treatment that costs thousands of dollars a month. Their governments like ours focus PSAs on smoking cessation, the difference it that is their man way to “treat” lung cancer, after all you don’t have to treat the patients you don’t have. Here we concern ourselves with late effects or secondary cancers, there patients may worry they and their family will be shunned by their community, because there they think cancer is contagious. It is for this, we need a Day like today.

Until, we can ensure patients everywhere are being screened or

Screen Shot 2017-08-01 at 12.56.45 AM — Asociacion Latinoamericana De Torax

diagnosed quickly and comprehensively, are receiving the appropriate standard of care and support, are receiving as much funding as every other common cancer group, and we have either increased the survival rate to above 50%, or reduced the number of new diagnoses, we will need a Day like this.