All About Mesothelioma

[MUSIC PLAYING] The treatment options are many, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, surgery with heated chemotherapy. In some cases, we’ll provide the patients with an option for immunotherapy, although reserved for a few patients. We can also provide palliative surgery for patients in which they can get relief of their symptoms and then be treated in a multimodality, multispecialty protocol.

DANIELLE DIPIETRO: It’s a very difficult time when you hear a diagnosis of cancer. So taking things slowly and making sure that we go at the patient’s pace or the family’s pace and understand their needs is most important. At the Mesothelioma Center, our patient advocates are very, very passionate about their jobs and they genuinely are compassionate about helping people. We’ve got a nurse on staff, we’ve got veterans on staff, we’ve got a doctor on staff, support group people. These are people whose entire careers have been dedicated to service. And it sets us apart from other organizations. We all bring a different skill set to the team where I’m able to collaborate with each and every one of them depending on what the needs of the patient are. This is a very rewarding job to have, also an emotional job to have. I’ve dealt with cancer in my own family, so being able to provide the assistance that I could have used at the time when I went through with my family is very rewarding. A lot of families are lost when they’re first told that they have a diagnosis of mesothelioma. So what our organization provides is a sense of hope and a sense of support to help families get through a difficult time. KAREN SELBY: I love the fact that I’m able to connect with patients that come to me and have absolutely no hope. And I’m able to provide them options and enlighten them on something they thought was impossible. [MUSIC PLAYING]