| Mesothelioma often takes the lives of its victims rapidly and there is little time to prepare for the many changes that take place. Since there is no known cure for mesothelioma, and most people are diagnosed at a point where treatment is largely ineffective, most view diagnosis as a death sentence. In some cases the survival period is a couple years, rare cases to patients survive more than five years, and in the majority of patients there is less than one year between diagnosis and death.
Statistics and reports on the mesothelioma patients are meticulously kept for publishing in scientific and medical journals. Sometimes doctors use these to help treat other patients with similar problems or to give hope to people who have been recently diagnosed. Peter Barnes’ is a case where the doctor was so amazed with the results that he wanted to share them with newly diagnosed patients as a hope for their treatment.
Meet Peter before mesothelioma
I have been Peter’s primary care doctor for about 15 years. I met him when he was 40 years old when he relocated to my area to resettle his family after a change in careers. He has always been an active person who likes to play sports and be involved in regular exercise for the benefit of his health.
He did not have a history of major illness and even though he smoked in his youth, he quit in his early 30s because he began to feel the effects of the habit on his lungs and chose not to live with it. He had worked in a variety of factories and put himself through a bachelor’s degree program which led to his new career as a math teacher at an area high school.
Peter’s Cancer
Peter came to me complaining about chest pressure, palpitations and recent weight loss without any change in his diet or routine. He assumed that the problems were due to his having been a smoker and was wondering if there was any treatment I could offer to relieve the symptoms and if there was danger of his having cancer. We ran some tests that detected fluid build up in his lung cavity so I had the fluid tested to figure out the cause.
The initial results were ambiguous; there were some anomalies in the fluid but nothing altogether striking. It turned out that the sample had been tainted and we would have to retest. In results were rather surprising to both of us when it turned out he had tumor material present in the fluid. We decided to biopsy the tumors present and discovered that they were evidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Exposure to Asbestos
All those years working in factories to put himself through a teaching program exposed him to a large amount of asbestos dust. He worked in a variety of areas of metal working, electrical supply and building materials factories which saw heavy dust in the air.
Even though there were some safety measures taken by the company, it was done after the dangers of asbestos had been exposed and before safety measures were regulated and checked. Depending on where he was working he might find himself covered in a layer of dust or completely free of it, but ten years of this type of work put him at higher risk for lung diseases from asbestos.
Symptoms and Treatment of Mesothelioma
Peter did not have any real pain with the symptoms he described, just pressure, palpitations and weight loss. These could have been attributed to blood pressure or even unnoticed changes in his diet. Once the diagnosis was confirmed we discussed what treatments were available to him. He had many options because the diagnosis came so early and the tumors were only beginning to form.
Rather than waiting for the symptoms to develop, we had caught them in their initial stages. It was his incredible health and the attention he paid to his body that helped us locate the cancer so soon.
All traditional treatment options were available to Peter and we explored everything in detail before choosing a route.
We decided that surgery coupled with radiation therapy would produce the best results with the fewest side effects. After careful preparation and study, Peter and the Barnes family were prepared to go through with the surgery and treatment.
Surviving Mesothelioma
Following the surgery and treatment, Peter had a remarkable prognosis and it seemed he would survive a disease that has no known cure. We discussed further treatments in case of remission with the cancer center team at length. At first Peter was all for taking things further with the medical approach, using drug therapies and possible surgery if needed. After research and hearing of alternative therapies, Peter decided on another approach. |
He wanted to try vitamin and immune-boosting therapies that were being touched upon in cancer magazines and websites. He knew the dangers of not taking the traditional approach in favor of new therapies that were largely untested. His interest was in improving his body’s immune response to the cancer to see if he could fight off anything that would re-grow without the help of drugs.
Peter has lived 6 years since his surgery to remove the tumors. Only 10% of all mesothelioma patients survive five years following any successful treatment and he is still going on without any remission or any sight of cancer. His remarkable story is one that will inspire patients to understand their disease and take charge of their treatment. Medical science can only take you so far, the power of the person is the determining factor in survival of cancer. |
