George was always a very sporty person since his youth. He was actively involved in sports in his university. George never gave up on his sports no matter what stage of his life he was at. Even in his mid-forties, he was a very fit and athletic person, spending is spare time in cycling, road racing and working out.
He had recently moved from Virginia to Florida as he was offered an executive position in a company. George and his family were camping and exploring the Big Sur area on the coast when he suddenly felt pain in his right side of the stomach. At first, he thought it was some muscle pull and so, tried to ignore it. However, the pain grew and soon, he had to strive for breath. He came to me to the hospital for examination of his stomach. On performing tests, George was surprisingly diagnosed with metastatic adenocarcinoma, or a cancer of unknown origin.
In order to determine the exact nature of his cancer, I performed more tests. In the November of 1998, it was confirmed that George had contracted the deadly disease, Mesothelioma cancer. Even though he knew that there was no cure for Mesothelioma, and death was evident, he continued for four years to fight against all odds. Two months after the confirmation of his disease, we performed a twelve hour operation on George to remove the lining on his lung or his complete left lung and as much of the rapidly expanding tumor that we could safely remove.
In the year 2000, he moved back into a house near the coast in Virginia. Such was the impact of the cancer that once a long distant runner and cyclist, George could hardly walk two blocks to the beach without being exhausted.
Mesothelioma lurks in the linings of the lungs for many years. The latency period can vary from 20 to 50 years before it is diagnosed and typically, the patient dies within a year. However, George in his determination to fight enrolled into a clinical trial at Duke University for Mesothelioma treatment. In the initial stages, the variety of cancer medicines along with radiation therapy halted the spread of the Mesothelioma cancer cells but that was short lived, the cells began spreading once again with the same speed.
Angry at the companies that had exposed him to asbestos, George contacted a group of lawyers shortly after being diagnosed with Mesothelioma. The lawyers had extensive question and answer sessions with George in order to try and determine the source of his exposure to the deadly asbestos. George had never worked for any such factory or plants where the asbestos dust was common. However, he did reveal that his father was a worker in a shipyard.
Whenever he came home, his clothes were covered with white dust. Since other family members of George did not contact Mesothelioma, it is hard to say whether this asbestos exposure was responsible for his cancer.
He also revealed that in his younger days, he was interested in cars and therefore, had a job in a garage where he worked on model cars, performing his own brake work. At that time, the brake pads were lined with asbestos. Later on that year, he worked for an auto parts store where he also performed the brake works.
The lawyers figured that he could have also been exposed to asbestos there. However, since the asbestos in the brakes lining were not at very high levels, the lawyers came to a conclusion that George might have been exposed primarily by the dust on his father’s clothes and aggravated by his job at the auto store. After weeks of paper work and discussions, they filed a lawsuit against the factory as well as the auto store.
George passed away in March 2001 leaving his family shattered and devastated. His lawyers strived endlessly to fight for his case. Six months after his death, the court announced the verdict. George’s family received a large legal settlement for exposing him to asbestos, hence contacting Mesothelioma. However, no matter how big the settlement, it can never George’s life.
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