Mother / Daughter Bond Gets Stronger When Mesothelioma Threatens

I have always been incredibly close to my parents. Being an only child, they were my first playmates, first friends, and always my biggest cheerleaders. After Dad was diagnosed with mesothelioma, these relationships were tested by nerves and stress, but ultimately strengthened by faith and love.

My Mom has always been the strongest woman I’ve ever known and that has rang true throughout this journey. I remember looking at her in the little room in the hospital when we were told that Dad had cancer. Through the tears and confusion, I still saw strength. When I asked her what we were going to do, she responded in a way that gave me faith and reassurance. When I would break down, she would pick me up. When I was scared, she reminded me that we needed to trust that God would take care of everything.

Going through a traumatic situation will undoubtedly bring people closer together, and this definitely happened between my Mom and me. As close as we were before, we are even tighter-knit now. Being in this together has been a comfort to both of us. We have realized that it is important to cherish every moment that you have with your loved ones, as life can change in a heartbeat, like it did for us.

To me, every relationship in my life is a treasure and blessing. The greatest joys in life involve the people you love. And when you are given a mother as amazing and special as mine, it’s easy to enjoy making those memories that you know you will never forget.

Vasiliki Kampas - Scholarship Essay Contest

Belluck & Fox, LLP Announces $10,000 College Scholarship Contest

The New York City law firm of Belluck & Fox, LLP and Mesothelioma Help are once again offering the chance for U.S. college students to win up to $5,000 in an essay contest about mesothelioma, a terminal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

With a goal to help the educational efforts of students while also raising awareness of mesothelioma and the dangers of asbestos, Belluck & Fox, LLP will award 10 prizes with a total of $10,000 in scholarship money for students 18-years-old or older enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities as of October 1, 2013. Belluck & Fox, LLP is a nationally recognized law firm that represents individuals with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related claims.

Scholarship Prizes

$5,000 – First Prize
$2,500 – Second Prize
$1,250 – Third Prize
$500 – Fourth Prize
$250 – Fifth Prize
$100 – Honorable Mention (there are five Honorable Mention awards)

Students are asked to write an original 750- to 1,000-word essay that addresses a mesothelioma sufferer’s personal story, the history of asbestos use in American industry / manufacturing or the latest developments in medical treatments for mesothelioma. Submissions will be accepted September 1 – October 14.

This year’s essays will be judged by Jan Egerton, a mesothelioma survivor, and Lisa Hyde-Barrett, a thoracic surgery nurse. Judges will look for clear, original essays that are logically organized and well-supported.

Nearly 60 entries were received last year. The first prize winner was Betsy Warren of Attleboro, MA. Ms. Warren was a returning student pursuing a degree in nursing at Rhode Island College. Her story, “The Ugly Elephant,” was about her father’s battle with mesothelioma.

MesotheliomaHelp is one of the Web’s primary resources for information on malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. The website provides in-depth coverage of the disease, as well as detailed information about the available diagnostic procedures and treatment options for mesothelioma sufferers.

Belluck & Fox, LLP is featured on the list of America’s best law firms, which is published jointly by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers magazine.

Move Beyond the Guilt When Caring for a Mesothelioma Patient

In the days and weeks following Dad’s diagnosis, I found myself looking around at other people who weren’t dealing with mesothelioma and feeling jealous. I remember thinking that they were able to live their lives uninterrupted, unchanged, when my whole world had just been turned upside down. Then, I began to question things; how will I ever be able to smile again, how will I do my job again, how will I ever be able to do anything “normal” again?

The answer took me a long time to realize, but it was quite simple. You just do. At that point in my life, I would have loved to trade places with anyone else who hadn’t just found out that their father had cancer. I wanted to run from it and pretend that it never happened. But those things weren’t possible. It was time to “be a big girl” and face my new reality head-on.

There was so much to do and figure out, especially once we decided to go to New York City. Planning and being in a strange place seemed to distract me enough to focus my attention on what was important. Prayer brought me comfort and solace. My family and friends brought me strength. God brought all these things to me.

Once the surgery was over and we were back home, I wasn’t sure how to move on from all the trauma that my family had experienced. Adjusting to a new lifestyle was difficult. It’s easy to let yourself fall into a pattern of guilt. Why do I get to continue with things “business as usual” when Dad has been faced with this disease? How do I continue to live three hours from my parents while they are in such a tough spot?

Again, these answers took me a long time, and it was a more complex response. First, Dad wanted all of us to get back to our normal lives and not dwell on the mesothelioma, just as he wanted to move on from it. Secondly, you cannot let your life be completely consumed by a diagnosis.

Do I worry about Mom and Dad every day? Absolutely. Do I help with anything they need as much as possible? For sure. Do I feel guilty for living my life? Sometimes, but by and large, no. I was an emotional wreck for quite a while, and I really think that me getting back to my normal life was a huge relief for Dad. Mom and Dad know that I would drop everything for them at any moment and help them with whatever they need. That is what’s important. The love I have for my family, and they for me, is amazing.

I have said previously that before you can take care of someone else, you have to take care of yourself. That remains true in this situation. Be happy, be there for your loved one, and be present in every moment. Don’t feel guilty for living the life that God gave you – that’s what He intended it for!

Mesothelioma Patient Manages Memory Loss and Forgetfullness

Many years ago, I read somewhere that having anaesthesia caused the death of brain cells, especially those associated with memory.

Unfortunately, over the years since I turned 30-years-old, I have undergone quite a few surgeries. Five to treat endometriosis, including a hysterectomy, and then my gall bladder was removed. For mesothelioma it was three surgeries, one which had me out for some eight to nine hours.

Now, the latest findings report that chemotherapy can also cause memory loss and forgetfulness. Some people call that “chemo brain.” I have had 13 doses of chemotherapy, not as many as some, but more than others. On top of that, I take morphine and pregablin, both of which can adversely affect your memory.

I used to pride myself on being able to remember dates, events and information that was important to my job and things important to my friends. I would multitask at work without thinking. Today, things have really changed. No longer do I bounce between three different programs, do what I need to and take a telephone call at the same time. I have to focus my full attention on just one thing at a time. If I do talk to someone on the telephone when I am in the middle of doing a task, I forget completely what the task was. And once I go back to what I was doing I forget what I was asked to do on the telephone!

Emailing: how can you possibly forget things when you email? But when you have email accounts for work and various personal accounts, you forget which one you have used or whether your emails are in Outlook, Gmail or Windows live! You spend more time searching for things than you do reading them.

This happened the other day. I received an email requesting information on mesothelioma. I opened it on my iPad and thought I would answer it on my computer. Because I had opened it on the iPad it didn’t show up as unread mail on my computer, and I never answered it. Two months later I am clearing my emails into folders and I found it. I had to apologise profusely for not answering sooner.

My husband thinks my memory loss is quite good because he can get away with things. If he has forgotten something on the grocery list, for example, he says I never told him. Of course I can’t say I did because I am never sure whether I told him to add things or not.

These are just simple trivial things, but seriously this memory loss can be bad. It isn’t just long term memory that comes and goes but short-term as well. I was asked to ring a friend as I was leaving the room, I passed the telephone but the thought had completely gone. An hour or two later my friend rang and said, “I thought you were ringing right back, what happened?” If this had been an emergency, it could have had serious consequences.

The other strange thing is your memory does start coming back. Unfortunately for me, just as I start to improve, I have found that I am back on chemotherapy and the memory problem resurfaces.

I guess what I am trying to say is to you that this is your “new normal” if you have undergone surgery and/or chemotherapy. Maybe you will be lucky and it does not have an effect on you, but if it does, all I can tell you is to try and remember to make notes, and then keep your note pad in the same place!

Two Gene Therapys Brings Hope to Mesothelioma

University of Hawaii Researchers’ Glowing Bunnies May Someday Bring Genetic Therapy to Mesothelioma Patients

Fluorescent protein taken from a jellyfish DNA and injected into a rabbit’s embryos has produced a litter with several glow-in-the-dark bunnies. Although to many, this may seem like science fiction, to researchers, scientists and physicians this means more effective medicines and cures for diseases like hemophilia, Alzheimer’s, and cancers such as mesothelioma, may be on the horizon.

According to a press release, a team of researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the University of Istanbul in Turkey used transgenesis to take a genetic marker from one animal and introduce it into another that did not originally have the gene – in this case, from the jellyfish to the rabbit. Although two of the newborn bunnies were left with an eerie glow when seen under black lights, they are otherwise perfectly healthy and are expected to lead full rabbit lives.

Now, the researchers are awaiting the birth of glowing lambs anticipated to be born in November. The same experiment was conducted in the larger mammal to forward the process towards work with humans.

Unfortunately, this type of work is controversial in the United States, and the experiments are being conducted in Turkey. In an interview with KHON2 of Hawaii, Dr. Stefan Moisyadi, lead researcher from UH, said, “At home, there is this hysteria that transgenic animals should not be used for anything.” But he adds, “The benefits in doing it [the experiments] in large animals is to create bio-reactors that basically produce pharmaceuticals that can be made a lot cheaper.”

Gene therapy has been touted as the “new frontier” in medicine and is offering hope to patients and doctors alike that once untreatable diseases, including mesothelioma, may now be cured. The cost, however, is often extremely high. Dr. Moisyadi told Independent.co.uk, “we can make those enzymes a lot cheaper in animals with barrier reactives rather than a factory that will cost billions of dollars to build.”

Tracking Asbestos and Other Environmental Pollutants

Mesothelioma is just one of the diseases that is caused by exposure to environmental pollutants. The National Cancer Institute explains that when asbestos fibers are breathed in, they may get trapped in the lungs and remain there for a long time. Over time, these fibers can accumulate and cause scarring and inflammation, which can affect breathing and lead to serious health problems. Mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis are all associated with asbestos exposure.

The research with glowing animals can also be used to help track pollutants as they travel through the body. Researchers from the University of Tennessee have developed transgenic bioluminescent zebrafish that were engineered exclusively to emit a glow when elevated levels of ammonia or nitrate are present in the aquarium and enter the fishes’ bodies. These “environmental reporters” can lead the way to produce other processes that can detect a large number of chemicals or toxins, potentially screening processes.

While all of this research still requires many more years of studies and work in the labs, genetic research appears to be pointing to many promising breakthroughs in the medical field.

About the Researchers

UH Emeritus Professor Ryuzo Yanagimachi who is the founder of the UH Manoa Institute for Biogenesis Research helped set up the initial experiment with the Turkish researchers. Yanagimachi, according to UH, is “recognized around the world as the scientist whose early work with animals laid the foundation for the development of in vitro fertilization in humans.” He also invented the now common technique used in fertility clinics for inserting sperm into an egg. Dr. Stefan Moisyadi, associate professor, then took over the experiment and is the lead researcher on the project.

Know more about Mesothelioma here.

Sources:

University of Hawaii at Manoa
http://www.uhm.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=5906
Independent.co.uk
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/team-of-scientists-create-cloned-glow-in-the-dark-rabbits-8756928.html
KHON2 of Hawaii
https://www.khon2.com/news/local-news/researchers-study-nature-of-sharks-in-hawaii-waters_2018030911381013/1025616452

Month: August 2013