Surviving Mesothelioma
Surviving Mesothelioma
Paul Kraus is a mesothelioma survivor and the author of Surviving Mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an uncommon form of cancer, usually associated with previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant (cancerous) cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).
Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibre in other ways, such as by washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos, or by home renovation using asbestos cement products.
Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 30 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos.
Characterized by a shortness of breath and pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space, this is often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.
Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and cachexia, abdominal swelling and pain due to ascites (a buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity). Other symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, anemia, and fever.
If the cancer has spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts of the body, symptoms may include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face. Be aware, however, that these symptoms may be caused by mesothelioma or by other, less serious conditions. Obtaining a diagnosis of mesothelioma is often difficult, because the symptoms are similar to those of a number of other, less serious conditions.
In June 1997, Mr. Kraus was diagnosed with mesothelioma (a "terminal" cancer) and given only a few months to live. More than eight years later, he is alive with a good quality of life having rejected surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. He took an alternative approach to healing his cancer that encompassed mind, body, and spirit.
In his book about mesothelioma, Kraus sets out how he beat the odds. The introduction reflects Paul's inspiration and commitment to life:
"In my eighth year after diagnosis I remain well. I have outlived my prognosis by at least seven years and the medical specialist I visited not long ago told me that 'you will be around for a lot longer yet.' My survival has been hard work. The underlying assumption with all that I have done, and continue to do, is a strong belief that our bodies are designed with amazing self-healing capacities."
Mr. Kraus has made himself available to other patients who would like to speak with him. The Surviving Mesothelioma website provides details about the book, how to speak directly with Mr. Kraus, facts and statistics about mesothelioma, conventional, alternative, biological and immuno-therapies, the latest medical news, directories of clinics that take a holistic approach to healing, and a patient forum where patients can share information and discuss issues of importance.
Get more information here: Understanding Mesothelioma
Judith Brandy is a writer, science fiction fan and cancer survivor who runs a SF website and a couple blogs on science fiction and dealing with cancer. Yes, it's an odd combination, but Judith's mission is to be both a haven against the storm of living with a serious illness and an educator on how-to take preventative, proactive steps. Her mission is to bring this information to the science fiction community.
The Best Mesothelioma Resources Are Found on the Internet
Mesothelioma, Asbestosis and Lung Cancer continue to claim thousands of lives every year in the United States. In addition to that, the number of newly diagnosed patients keeps going up, too. A lot is being done for breast cancer and other variations of malignant diseases, however, the mesothelioma awareness movement is barely known.
But that might change. Because the public slowly seems to realize that mesothelioma is one of the deadliest cancers. There is no cure found yet, and effective treatments are only available to wealthy patients. People become more interested especially since we know that basically anybody who was or is exposed to asbestos, could theoretically develop this or any other asbestos induced disease at any point in time.
When we look for information about mesothelioma resources, there is only very little literature available. Let's do an experiment together and go to amazon.com. First, browse to the 'Books' category and then do a search on 'mesothelioma'. After that do another search on 'breast cancer'. The result speaks for itself: 325 hits on 'mesothelioma', versus '6776' for books about breast cancer.
Is that surprising? No, not really. After all, breast cancer is wider spread and therefore gets more attention, not only from the public, but also from research and science. You can run the same experiment in Google, by the way. The ratio between the two search terms is the same as the results we got through amazon.com.
Nonetheless, the best mesothelioma resources are still found on the Internet. The usual suspects, including Wikipedia and the big cancer websites, do provide a lot of useful information, undeniably. However, as a kidney cancer patient and someone who speculates on the possibility as to whether or not his cancer could have been caused by exposure to asbestos, I found blogs the most resourceful and informative sources to gather in depth information. Not only about mesothelioma and kidney cancer, but also asbestosis and the certain forms of lung cancers that are also evidentially linked to being exposed to this material.
Lastly, needless to say that medical advice should be sought through trained professionals only. Nonetheless, in my wife's breast cancer and my kidney cancer journey, we both found the most valuable information in the experience that was shared by other cancer patients. Internet forums are a great place to start communicating with others who have a similar story to tell and ask all the questions you don't want to necessarily address with your health care professional.
The author Tony Ulrich was diagnosed with kidney cancer in October of 2009. In his research on what his cancer could have been caused by, he came across with data that suggests a strong link to environmental toxics, such as asbestos. Please visit his Kidney Cancer and Asbestos Mesothelioma website for more details.
