Asbestos.com Goes 'Behind the Mystery' of Mesothelioma on Lifetime Network

Once highly regarded for its insulation and fire resistant properties, asbestos has left a legacy of health concerns in its wake. Those who have worked with or have lived around it are at risk of developing an aggressive disease. Yes. Mesothelioma can be a devastating form of cancer. It can affect the lining of the lungs, the abdomen, and the heart. Advancements in medical science have offered hope for patients, and early detection is critical. In addition, as one organization will remind us today, mesothelioma is not a battle to be fought alone. Let's go behind the mystery. So a few years back, I started having this intense pain to my left side. And I thought this is probably a kidney stone. Based on my knowledge, I've been a nurse for thirty-seven years. So when one had it evaluated, they couldn't figure it out. Finally, after going back and forth with the doctor, he said, Kim, let's just do a CAT scan. And it showed a mass. And he said, Kim, it's not your kidney. The mass is at the base of your left lung above your kidney. I'm gonna have to refer you to a pulmonologist. I saw the pulmonologist, and he said we better just biopsy it and go from there. Because I'm not sure what it is. And they decided that I should go ahead and have the mass removed. The doctor told my husband that he saw multiple masses when he was in there. The results came back and was inconclusive. And so at that time, they were trying to figure out, well, is it this? Is it that? And mesothelioma was mentioned, but based on my age and my history. They thought no way. She definitely doesn't have that. After receiving different opinions from doctors about her tumor, Kim sought a third opinion. I saw someone on the West Coast. Decided to go see someone on the East Coast. My childhood friend, Jeanette, said, I'm gonna go with you. We can also make it into a little fun time as well, Kim. When saw the doctor, he had received the tissue block, and had ran his own pathology. I did a CT scan there. At the end of the day, He sat me down and he said, okay, Kim. This is what we need to do to treat your mesothelioma. And I said to him, doctor, are you telling me I have mesothelioma? And it just hit me. I was numb. I think I wasn't a nurse at that moment. I was a patient. And I thought, no, no, no, this is this is probably the worst nightmare because I remember my pulmonologist said, I know you don't have mesothelioma Kim. There's no way you could have that. It's so rare. The providers had told me after the first opinion, the second opinion. It's not what you have, Kim. So to actually hear the words, you have mesothelioma. It really just you you just you just are at a standstill. Mesothelioma is a cancer that arises from exposures to asbestos, and asbestos are little fibers. And these fibers are inhaled and they go through our nose and our wind pipe and go into the lung, and then they go to the periphery of the lung. And then on the periphery of the lung, the lining of the lung called the pleura, they can start causing inflammation. And over many years, and I'm talking about twenty five to thirty years, that inflammation very, very rarely can turn into a cancer. And that cancer is called mesothelioma. Mesothelioma occurs most often and the lining around the lung called the pleura, and that's what pleural mesothelioma is. Mesothelioma symptoms are quite difficult to differentiate from other more common diseases. And that's why it's so difficult to diagnose mesothelioma. But if your cough keeps persisting, If your shortness of breath is not going away, more importantly, if your doctor finds that you have fluid building up around your lung, that they drain and it keeps coming back and coming back, then the red light should go off and you might have to think maybe I have mesothelioma. There's a misconception that mesothelioma and lung cancer are the same thing. In fact, they're not. Mesothelioma is a cancer that starts in the lining around the lung. That very commonly presents with fluid around the lung. And it's, related more often than not with asbestos exposure. Lung cancer on the other hand is much, much more common. In my opinion, I think that patients who get diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer. It would be very important for them to seek care in a specialty cancer center. You see mesothelioma is a rare disease and the treatment is quite complex and is ever changing. So that's why it's hard for physicians in the community to stay up to date and acquire enough experience over time in treating this rare disease. Joining us now is Karen Selby a registered nurse and patient advocate at The Mesothelioma Center. Welcome Karen. Thank you so much for being part of the show. Thank you so much for having me. No, it's great to have you. By the way, Karen, it says here that you're also a member of the Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators. So how has your background served in your role now at The Mesothelioma Center? Yeah. For nearly a decade, I worked as a thoracic oncology nurse where I assisted surgeons in complex surgeries. But for the past fifteen years, I've been assisting mesothelioma patients here at The Mesothelioma Center. What I've learned is every patient is different, and they all come with their own set of needs. So my goal is to assess their needs and then provide them the tools they need to fight their cancer. And that's where The Mesothelioma Center comes in. So tell us all about it. So The Mesothelioma Center's core purpose is to educate people about asbestos related diseases and help mesothelioma patients with their journey. We are patient advocates. We provide exclusive services to patients and their caregivers and pretty much help them along the way from beginning to end. We understand that a diagnosis can be very scary. People feel very overwhelmed. We know what the next steps are. So connecting with The Mesothelioma Center can really help them with their journey. So they can focus on what matters most. And feel more comfortable and hopeful. Absolutely. What about the people there? Can you tell us a little bit more about them? Yeah. We have a very unique team. All of our advocates each have over a decade of specialized mesothelioma care. We have an oncology nurse, a physician, an oncology navigator, a hospice care director. Yeah. We even have a, US army veteran on staff, an attorney and a legal adviser. And what's really great is that we all also have survivors and, their caregivers that have gone through this journey. And so being able to answer those questions that a newly diagnosed patient might have can really help eliminate the anxiety of dealing with the diagnosis. And it doesn't stop there. You also have a lot services that you provide? Yes. That's correct. One in particular is the doctor match service, where we help patients connect with specialists wherever they are in the country. And every patient is different. So it's not one size fits all. We have over four hundred mesothelioma specialists in our network and we can assess the patient's needs and be able to identify what specialist will be right for them and get them to that physician. Treatment can be very expensive and we understand that there is a huge financial burden, and there can be a lot of anxiety involved with that. So we can provide financial services for patients. And sometimes that comes in the form of a legal claim. Now, that's not the first thing a patient is gonna be thinking about is how to find an attorney. But we walk with them through that process and help them make wise decisions. We also can help them find attorneys that make the most sense for them based on their exposure and where they live in the country. I'm so glad you have a veteran on staff because there's such a high number of veterans who have mesothelioma. Right? That's true. A very large percentage of veterans are affected with mesothelioma. So having a veteran's perspective in mind is really important. That's why we have a VA accredited claims agent on staff to help them. He's there to help patients apply for their VA benefits. And he also can assist with the appeal process for anyone that has been denied in a a previous claim. Wonderful and really needed, Montel. Absolutely. So now where can people go to get started learning more? They can visit asbestos.com. It's comprised of extremely accurate and reliable resources written by an impressive roster of experts such as mesothelioma specialists and patients. They can visit our website that has a list of all of our resources, including our community page that has access, to information such as our Facebook support group, and our online support group. All of the services that we provide are free. And when you connect with the patient advocates, you have access to all of the services we provide. When we come back, how the resources at The Mesothelioma Center helped Kim cope with her diagnosis, plus more with Karen when we return. Behind The Mystery of Mesothelioma will be back right after this. Welcome back to Behind The Mystery of Mesothelioma. Let's check back in with Kim. I was experiencing something that was affecting my life, and I didn't know where to go. I knew after speaking to doctor that this was gonna be a big surgery. I needed resources. I needed some help because even though I had nursing knowledge. I had the support of friends. I needed a little bit more than that. My friend, Janet, who went with me, decided to follow-up on the references that the doctor gave her, and one of them was Asbestos.com. So she went ahead and contacted them, and they responded to her immediately and said, we'd like to send Kim, a packet that has information in it, that we think will be really helpful. And inside, it has tips on nutrition. It had stories from patients that I found how helpful. It had medical documentation regarding the and I thought that was very helpful. Great patient education. And the other thing that they said, "is there anybody else in your life that you think would benefit from this information?" I know for my mom and my sister, Kay, they really found it helpful. They may suggestions regarding compensation. They knew that that was something that I was struggling with. I ended up with a firm that worked well for me. And I really had them to thank for that. I had a contact person, and they followed up with me several times just to kinda see where I was at. I thought, wow. Not only is this informative, but the really kind It was really significant for me, in terms of my recovery. I felt really well taken care of. I felt they went above and beyond. And it helped me. I accepted their help, and I just don't accept everybody's help. I come from a background where I'm taking care of everybody else. And I always thought I wanted to take care of everybody else, but this time I knew had to let somebody in to help take care of me. So they did. They actually did a pretty good job with it, so. Now, I'm medically retired I'm living my dream. I'm a full-time mom. My kids are my treasure, and I'm volunteering. I'm part of the choir booster. I feel really involved in their lives. I feel that what I missed, I'm trying to make up for it, and it's feeling good. And I'm living my best life. What an inspiring story. Karen, I mean, it really seems that that personal touch is really makes a different right here. It really is. We were able to help Kim tremendously. We provided her our mesothelioma packet, which included over two hundred pages of information that was written with the patient in mind. So it's very easy to understand. We were also able to help connect her with an attorney that made the most sense based on her exposure and where she lives in the country. Karen, great resources. Amazing tool for so many patients. Thank you so much for what you're doing. Thank you. Okay. Appreciate your time. Thank you, sweet. One more time with the website. The website is Asbestos.com, so they can reach us on that website or call the toll-free number. And of course, as always, you can go to our website, TheBalancingAct.com. Get a little bit more information, and we'll be back right after this.