Receiving the diagnosis of mesothelioma is a jarring, life-changing experience. The unfortunate reality for those who have been exposed to asbestos and wind up developing mesothelioma is that the prognosis is often quite grim. Commonly, the life expectancy for someone who is diagnosed with mesothelioma is relatively short, in large part because the disease is usually not discovered until it is in an advanced stage.
Whether an advanced mesothelioma diagnosis has already been delivered, or it might be coming down in the near future, it’s important to figure out what will need to happen next. There is the medical side, which is critical, and there are also the financial ramifications to consider.
What is Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer. The body contains mesothelial cells that line organs throughout the body, and cancer affecting these cells is known as mesothelioma. Usually, this type of cancer occurs in the lungs and the lining of the chest cavity. While it is technically possible for anyone to develop mesothelioma without being around asbestos, the vast majority of cases have been found in individuals who were exposed to asbestos.
There are a few different types of this asbestos-related cancer, with pleural mesothelioma being the most common.
This one is found in the thin membrane surrounding the lungs and chest cavity, and some of the early symptoms include coughing and difficulty breathing. Another possibility is peritoneal mesothelioma, which is found in the abdominal cavity, and can lead to pain and digestive issues.
A challenging diagnosis
The reason that being diagnosed with mesothelioma is such a dramatic event is simply that most people don’t survive for very long after a diagnosis. There are treatments that can be explored, but they tend to deliver modest results, at best.
Since mesothelioma doesn’t lead to many, or any symptoms early on, it is usually only caught in the later stages, when it has advanced and there isn’t much hope of slowing it down. Also, the extended latency period between exposure to asbestos and the onset of the illness complicates matters. Even if someone knows they were exposed to asbestos in the past, they might not be thinking about it decades later until their health starts to take a negative turn.
Possibilities for Exposure
Part of the problem with mesothelioma is the fact that it was so easy for many years to be exposed to asbestos. For one thing, countless people worked in industrial settings where they could inhale the fibers all day. That might mean mining for asbestos, or it could have meant working in a factory that produced products with asbestos as a prominent component. Whatever the case, direct exposure was guilty of harming – in many cases fatally – countless people over decades of time.
Second-hand asbestos exposure as a child can cause cancer as an adult.
But it wasn’t only direct exposure that caused problems. Asbestos was also a threat to people who weren’t working directly with the fibers, such as spouses who were at home and exposed second-handedly after their loved one came home with invisible fibers on their clothes, shoes, work tools, and more. While this type of exposure might not have been quite as dangerous as direct exposure, it still led to many more people getting sick down the line.
Treatments Have Improved – But Not Enough
It would be great to report that mesothelioma treatments have reached a point where they could be relied on to deliver excellent results and delay the advance of symptoms in victims of asbestos exposure. Sadly, that is just not the case. Despite the hard work of many talented people, and despite some small improvements over the years, the outlook is still not good for anyone who has advanced mesothelioma.
Signs of Advanced Mesothelioma
Given the long latency period and the lack of symptoms early in the process, many people find themselves already at an advanced stage before they actually receive a mesothelioma diagnosis. However, in some cases, it isn’t the diagnosis that clues them into a problem, but rather, the symptoms they are experiencing. Some of those symptoms might include the following:
· Chest pain
The pain that an asbestos victim experiences in their chest can be particularly excruciating when mesothelioma reaches an advanced stage. Even something as simple as breathing, or barely moving, can become so painful that it is difficult to manage.
· Dramatic weight loss
With many types of cancer, including mesothelioma, the patient may lose a significant amount of weight as a result of changes in the body and perhaps a decreased appetite.
· Ongoing cough
Depending on the location of the cancer, it might lead to an ongoing, painful cough that the patient just can’t shake. Between the cough and the chest pain that might coexist, this is a very painful condition as it reaches its later stages. This can be especially problematic in patients who smoke.
· Difficulty swallowing
When the patient is facing peritoneal mesothelioma, there might be issues with swallowing as the tumor moves toward the esophagus. Obviously, swallowing is a critical daily function, so this is an issue that can impede the maintenance of a reasonable quality of life.
· Fatigue
As the condition advances and it takes more and more of a toll on the patient, an individual might start to feel extremely tired. It could be hard to get through the day doing normal activities without running out of energy as a result of the cancer and the toll it takes on the body.
Seeking Help
Going into a stage of life that involves facing advanced mesothelioma is certainly not something to do alone. Help is going to be required on all fronts, including doctors who are experienced with this type of disease and lawyers who know how to seek damages for victims in asbestos cases.
Reaching out to an attorney right away will help sort through the confusion that can reign in the world of asbestos to figure out what the best path forward may look like. It’s possible that filing a lawsuit against a company that was responsible for asbestos exposure will be the best path, while it’s also possible to pursue damages through an asbestos trust, instead. Only with the help of a trusted, experienced professional can this choice be made with confidence.
Sources:
Mesothelioma: Scientific clues for prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians,, Carbone, M., Adusumilli, P.S., Alexander Jr, H.R., Baas, P., Bardelli, F., Bononi, A., Bueno, R., Felley‐Bosco, E., Galateau‐Salle, F., Jablons, D. and Mansfield, A.S., 2019. 69(5), pp.402-429.
Reducing the Risk from Asbestos in the Built Environment During Natural Hazard Events., Kelly, C. and Hodgkin, D., 2023. Geohazards and Disaster Risk Reduction: Multidisciplinary and Integrated Approaches (pp. 115-132). Cham: Springer International Publishing.