Louise C. participated in our awareness of asbestos Week activities on Facebook, and was inspired to share her story with us and the community. Louise lost her father in April 2010 for mesothelioma. Read on as she shares the journey of her family with the diagnosis of his father. We retain her surname privacy.
What were the events that led to the diagnosis of your father?
my father I had a chest cold for Christmas 08 he got to go see the GP in January, and they sent for an X-ray. Then they admitted the Harlow hospital for chest tube.
When your father finally diagnosed?
After being in Harlow, my father was sent to the hospital for a biopsy London Chest. After coming around the operation, it was said seemed ok and he could go home. When I arrived, he told me that someone had come to see him and told him he had "something ending lioma" and he had an appointment with Harlow new hospital.
What were your biggest questions after? diagnosis
after going home and searching the Internet, the main issues are as follows :?
What kind of treatment is
What should we do now
What was the reaction to hear his diagnosis was cancer?
to be honest, learning it was the cancer was not the worst thing we heard, knowing that many cancer can be treated or even cured now.
what the rest of the reaction of your family?
all the family gathered around dad. Go to hospital visits seemed to help, as we have asked the questions that dad had forgotten. He also saved father go through it all again when he arrived home.
was your father mesothelioma caused by asbestos? If so, can you remember him coming in contact with asbestos?
My father worked as a companion for a plumber in the 60s He also worked in the demolition around East London where he grew up. During the 50s and 60s a South African company imported asbestos to Barking Creek. Small asbestos fibers blowing for miles around the local area. So I guess my father could have come into contact with asbestos in many ways throughout his life.
Where did you turn for information?
We found most of the information we needed from the net. When Dad had his first visit to Harlow hospital, the doctor we saw actually said he did not know much about mesothelioma and the NHS do not plan to spend much money on research as they say it will eradicate it by 2015, due to the fact that asbestos is not used more
(* Note :. asbestos is not banned worldwide and is thought to be a resurgence of people affected in the years to come)!
What are the treatment options have you been offered and what you choose to do?
My father told the Harlow hospital they can not do anything and they returned to the Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. It was said to Papworth, very suddenly, there was nothing they can do and suggested she go home and do his paperwork! His life expectancy was estimated at two months!
We all talked to my father (who, by the way up to this point was a person very fit and strong physically and mentally strong), and agreed to consider whether we could find clinical trials that it could take part in.
Do you travel to a specialized center?
After a web search, we found Dr. Jeremy Steele who works at Barts.
Dr. Steel is well known in the UK as a specialist in lung cancer and is internationally recognized for his research on malignant mesothelioma. He is a member of the board of the International Mesothelioma Group headquartered in Chicago.
Dr. Steele agreed to see my father and put on a clinical trial program. The program consisted of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, cisplatin and Permatrex together. My father had a lot of six chemotherapy treatments, traveling to Barts in London every time. This prolongs its life for another year.
We have also gained a lot aid of MacMillian nurses at Barts.
What did you find most useful in the treatment of the diagnosis of your father?
not give up and do your own research on the net. We would have never found Dr. Steele otherwise.
We also found that nurses working MacMillian Barts to be a big help. They helped fill in application forms.
Our local hospice was a fantastic help. They helped with virtually everything, and if they can not help, they will send you in the right direction.
What message would you send to the mesothelioma community?
Colin Roddam
DOB 27 e July 1945
Death 10 e April 2010
Greatly beloved husband, brother , father and grandfather. He caught that horrible thing comes from hard work. Sometimes life is simply unfair.
During the last year, I challenged the local primary school that my children attend to be more open about what asbestos is in the building. After surveyors began to go through the school plans, which few asbestos was present governors manage to remove as soon as possible.
This is fantastic news, hope the message is getting out there, that asbestos kills.
we thank Louise for sharing his personal journey with mesothelioma with us all. As always, we hope that his story has brought hope and inspiration to your life. If you want to share your story with the mesothelioma community, please contact our team outreach@asbestos.com , connect with us on Facebook , or Twitter .
