Posts Tagged ‘Chest Pain’

By the time you know….

Mesothelioma is incredibly difficult to diagnose before symptoms arise.  A sad fact of mesothelioma is that by the time symptoms are visible and a physician is able to diagnose a patient with mesothelioma, it is often because the disease is in an advanced stage, or at a point that is often too far along to treat with success of remission.  Life expectancy from the time of diagnosis is often not much longer than a year to about eighteen months.  It is nearly impossible to determine whether or not a patient has mesothelioma based on physical symptoms without performing internal tests, such as an MRI, CT scan, or a biopsy if there is a tumor.  The early symptoms of mesothelioma are usually fever, nausea, weight loss, chest pain, and breathlessness.  These are all common symptoms of everything from the common cold, to pneumonia, to mesothelioma, which is why it is very difficult to nail down a mesothelioma diagnosis.  Many times patients are unaware that the cause of these symptoms could be something as serious as mesothelioma.  Often times mesothelioma goes untreated until it is in its advanced stages due to the fact that the patient is uncertain of the severity of their illness until it is too late.  This is why it is extra important to understand your own medical history as well as your exposure to asbestos.  It is also yet another reason to take every illness serious as it may be a precursor or symptom of something worse.  Seeing a doctor can not make you worse so if you are in doubt, go see your physician, because it really is better to be safe than sorry.  You also greatly increase your chances of being treated successfully the earlier you find mesothelioma.

Symptoms of Mesothelioma

Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma are usually difficulty in breathing, and chest pain. A patient may exhibit on or both of these symptoms, but sometimes a person who has mesothelioma is asymptomatic. Other symptoms sometimes include nausea, vomiting, fever, cough and weight loss. Mesothelioma can be difficult to diagnose because it’s symptoms often mirror those of different types of cancer. The main factor that will give your doctor the ability to properly diagnose mesothelioma is whether you have had any exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is the main cause of mesothelioma and has been linked to almost every single case of the disease. If you doctor suspects mesothelioma, you will need to have x-rays or other imaging tests done on your abdominal cavity to determine the size and location of the tumor. After a tumor is located, a biopsy will be required to confirm that it is mesothelioma. A tissue sample is often required in addition to test for the presence of mesothelioma. Unfortunately, specialists have yet to discover a cure for mesothelioma but there are several treatment options that will help to ease the symptoms. If a tumor is operable, a patient will usually be given a round of chemotherapy or radiation in order to kill any remaining cancer cells. This coupling treatments is called adjuvant therapy and has shown to be more successful that a single treatment option. Medicine has come along way in helping to easy the suffering of mesothelioma patients and it is possible to live a long happy life after asbestos exposure now.

Retired worker’s legal battle over cancer

A 73-year-old retired prison electrician who is dying from an asbestos-related cancer has launched a legal battle for compensation of up to £150,000.

Terence Clare has malignant mesothelioma, a terminal cancer which affects the lining of his lungs, which he says is as a result of being exposed to asbestos.

Now Mr Clare, of Main Road, Pontesbury, near Shrewsbury, is claiming damages from HM Prison Service. He claims he was exposed to asbestos dust and fibres when he worked at HMP Holloway in London from 1976 to 2000, according to a High Court writ.

As part of his duties he had to access electric cabling for repair and maintenance, housed inside a suspended ceiling on the “trolley route”, and had to remove asbestos tiles which scraped releasing dust, the writ says.

When he worked in the suspended ceiling area the atmosphere was heavily contaminated with asbestos dust, the writ adds.

Mr Clare first became breathless and started coughing in 2008, and six months later x-rays showed a problem with his left lung.

Despite radiotherapy, he suffers from chest pain, breathlessness and loss of appetite, and faces a life expectancy of less than one year, the writ adds.

Without mesothelioma, he could have expected to live another 11.6 years, and is claiming damages to reflect the lost years of his life, the writ says.

He says the prison serviced failed to provide him with proper protection or ventilation, failed to warn him of the dangers of working in an asbestos contaminated atmosphere, and allowed him to work unprotected in a contaminated atmosphere knowing it would cause lung injury.

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