John Simmons first met Iva "Ivy" Lewis when he was in high school.
He pulled out his granddaughter, Jayne.
Both sets of grandparents John died before he was born, so it was natural for him to claim unofficially grandmother Ivy as his own grandparent.
The demand became official when the secondary lovers were married in the 1980s
"When I went home, she insisted I call her grandmother Ivy and it's just how it was, "said John.
"You do not argue with grandma."
Decades later, in 2012, during a standard examination, doctors of the Christian Hospital Northeast discovered a spot on his lung. Initially, the family had no idea it could be cancer.
"The thought was mesothelioma just never crossed my mind.
The diagnosis was a surprise," John said and added that he remembered his mother-in-law calling and asking him him send a mesothelioma information packet.
"You never think it will happen to your family until it does," he said.
grandmother Ivy experienced secondary exposure to asbestos for more than thirty years before.
Her husband, Norman, worked for Shell Oil in Wood River, Ill., As a worker and insulation from 1952 until his retirement in 1982.
He has worked with and around asbestos on a daily basis and unconsciously brought home asbestos dust on his work clothes. Grandmother Ivy was exposed when it processed, bleached and shook out the clothes.
Three months after his diagnosis in October 2012, the grandmother Ivy died.
The following year, his family created a Miles for Meso team called in his memory, "Team Ivy." The team shirts are pink in recognition of her favorite color.
They attended every year since.
"Losing someone you love is heartbreaking cancer," said John. "Knowing that he could have been avoided makes me want to fight harder and continue to fight for our clients, keep the defense awareness and continue to support efforts to find a cure.
Maybe with all this, I can help you make sure that other families can keep their grandmas a little longer. "
