A Highly Aggressive Disease
- A former teacher Jacqueline Bodman, 59, went to her doctor after experiencing a cough and chest discomfort. She was prescribed antibiotics and sent home.
- Due to worsening symptoms, Jacqueline then went to the emergency room on April 18. Then she finally received her tragic diagnosis: it was mesothelioma, one of the most rapidly-progressing types of cancers, caused by asbestos exposure.
- Asbestos is a group of naturally-occurring minerals that expose people to major health risks, namely cancer.
- The most common symptom of mesothelioma is shortness of breath, as Jacqueline experienced, but because the disease is so rare, it often goes misdiagnosed for months.
Due to worsening symptoms, Jacqueline then went to the emergency room on April 18. Then she finally received her tragic diagnosis: it was mesothelioma, one of the most rapidly-progressing types of cancers, caused by asbestos exposure. Asbestos is a group of naturally-occurring minerals that expose people to major health risks, namely cancer.
Read MoreDr. Khan said that it was then recommended she go to hospice, but recalled that Jacqueline wanted to go home. “Plans were put in place but she felt she may not cope,” they continued of the tragic situation. “She was discharged to the Douglas Macmillan Hospice.”
It is unclear when or where Jacqueline may have been exposed to asbestos.
9/11 New Warning Over Risk for Potential Asbestos-Related Cancers
“I’ve got no evidence to conclude where this exposure came from,” North Staffordshire assistant coroner Sukhdev Garcha reported. “Without any evidence, I cannot conclude the death was due to industrial disease.”
“There is insufficient evidence to establish whether exposure to asbestos was from a workplace or where she lived, Garcha added.
Understanding Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer, and it's cancer of the thin tissue that lines the lungs, chest wall, and abdomen. Mesothelioma can often go undiagnosed until a later stage, experts tell us. Treatment options for this disease include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
Head of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Joseph Friedberg, explains in an earlier interview how mesothelioma's survival rate is generally no longer than one to two years. He also says that although it's one of the deadliest cancers, it's also rare.
"So maybe a few thousand cases a year in the United States," Dr. Friedberg says. "It's the cancer which isthe overwhelming majority of the timeis caused by asbestos."
Asbestos is the main cause of mesothelioma, one of the most deadly cancers
The most common symptom of mesothelioma is shortness of breath. Dr. Friedberg says, "Most often, they'll get diagnosed as having pneumonia or something else because someone listens to them, they have decreased breath sounds, they get treated So because it's such a rare cancer, it is often misdiagnosed for several months."
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