Mesothelioma Victims
This form of cancer is generally very aggressive and can cause particular problems for those afflicted with it. Generally by the time it is diagnosed the prognosis is poor and the mesothelioma victims are hit hard with both the diagnosis and the short life expectancy. Obviously a lot of sensitivity is required to help someone deal with a blow of this sort – and it will affect close relatives as well.
Mesothelioma is a cancer of either the lining of the lungs, heart or abdomen. It is most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos fibers and can appear several decades afterwards. It is always malignant.
Because it appears so long after the initial exposure and early symptoms are similar to those of far more common diseases, it is often not diagnosed in an early stage. Symptoms can include breathlessness, chest pain, weight loss, fever, sweating, hoarseness, a persistent cough, abdominal pain and swelling. Of course these may not all be present at the same time.
Some may never appear, which is one reason why it is so difficult to diagnose. This difficulty of diagnosis means that patients are often in the second stage of cancer, before it is diagnosed. Stage two of cancer means that it has already began to spread to other areas. Doctors are now being told to suspect cancer much sooner if one presents any of the common symptoms and has a history of exposure to asbestos. If the treatment is started sooner the outcomes are likely to be better and lead to more long term survivors.
Even if one is diagnosed before getting into the second stage, the treatments often mean that one cannot work. Providing for a family, if one is the provider, means he/she is then reliant on benefits. Even if one is not the provider, the responsibilities of caring for the family may then fall on the major wage earner. He or she may have to give up work to do so – again leading to a life dependent on welfare benefits.
Treatment is usually a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. There are surgical procedures that can be used, but they involve radical and invasive surgery. Where surgery is used, surgeons will try and remove the maximum amount of tumor and cancer cells. All treatments affect the quality of life for sufferers, and sometimes do not extend life expectancy by much.
Most mesothelioma victims are in extreme pain for much of the time, and this is not always relieved by normal painkillers. Administration of stronger ones often means that nursing will have to take place either in the home or in a hospital. This has a further deleterious effect on family life. Trying to cope with the debilitating effects of the treatments, and the reduction in income, as well as living with the knowledge that one has a death sentence hanging over one’s head, makes life very difficult.
It is not unnatural for a victim to be angry, depressed or apathetic, all of which make it very difficult for those around the sufferer to support them. Some mesothelioma victims refuse to accept the limitations of the illness and explore alternative ways to beat it. Even this attitude can be difficult for those close to them, as the sufferer tries increasingly unconventional treatments.
