David had worked all his life in a shipyard. His sons had followed suit and also joined the same industry. The pay scale was good and they all led a comfortable life and were satisfied. Having retired about a year back, he had been making plans to travel with his wife. He had set aside a certain amount of savings for this purpose and had even booked his tour. They were all set to go when the first symptoms struck. Initially he felt fatigued and would feel tired doing everyday activities.
He used to rest for a while after which the symptoms would resolve. Coupled with this, he had developed a troubling cough. Initially the cough was not so bad and he had taken over-the-counter medicines as he thought he might have caught the flu. They relieved the cough to some extent but never made it go away completely. After a few weeks he also developed shortness of breath and fever. His cough had become progressively worse and had become dry and hacking and he was losing weight at an alarming rate. He was also experiencing chest pain.
David decided to see his physician as the chest pain was increasing to the point that he was having difficulty in breathing. His doctor after a detailed history put him through a series of initial tests. These also included a chest X-ray. When the findings came back his doctor showed him his X-ray and explained the situation to him. The pleura on his right had become thickened and there was fluid accumulated in his right lung. This was what had been causing his breathlessness, cough and chest pain. Now came the difficult part. His physician had initially decided to put off telling him what his preliminary diagnosis was. He wanted to put him through a series of advanced tests first. But now he had changed his mind and decided to tell him what he had in mind now. This he thought would soften the impact and make acceptance easier.
As he had thought David took the news badly. Even his wife who had come with him was stunned. Nobody in their circle of friends and family had suffered form cancer. It was a disease that happened to other people but not to them. How could this have happened? When the doctor explained that it was due to asbestos exposure in his workplace he was stunned. Nobody else was suffering from the same symptoms he was. As it turned out Mesothelioma has a latent period of 20-50 years before any signs and symptoms manifest. Maybe in other workers the disease was progressing silently and had yet to become evident. David had a biopsy done in which a small needle is inserted into the thoracic cavity and a small sample of tissue is taken out to determine the type of cancer. In addition he also had an MRI done which uses magnetic waves to visualise various cross sections of the body and in by this the extent of tumor spread can be determined. The tests helped to determine that his cancer was in stage II according to the TNM classification. According to this classification, his cancer had involved two layers of his pleura but adjacent structures like the esophagus and lymph nodes had been spared. Also, pleura on one side had been affected which was good news as it made treating the cancer more easily. After explaining the treatment options, it was decided to surgically remove the affected part of the pleura followed by a course of chemotherapy.
As he walked out of the doctor’s office, he was bombarded with a variety of emotions. His mind was having difficulty accepting that he, of all people, had cancer. Maybe the test results had gotten mixed up with someone else’s. He couldn’t have cancer. He felt betrayed somehow that he had not been warned of the risks involved when being exposed to asbestos. Slowly this feeling of denial turned into anger. Anger at his company, at himself and all the people who worked in the same place but were apparently healthy. Why couldn’t someone else have got it? Why him? |
