Author: smithav_92wl8eq8

Three simple facts

1. 1.   Mesothelioma and Asbestosis are unique amongst industrial diseases in that they have only one cause  – ASBESTOS
   2.   If you are suffering from mesothelioma then you have been exposed to asbestos
   3.   Regardless of how you were exposed someone is liable and your mesothelioma claim advisor or attorney can help you  .

The dangers of asbestos were first discovered in the UK over 120 years ago. By 1930 there was enough publicised evidence that no employer in any industrialised country had an excuse to plead ignorance of the facts and not protect their employees against possible lethal exposure. The  first attributed death was in 1924 the first lawsuit against an asbestos manufacturer was filed in 1929.

But in the 1930’s the term Health and Safety was unknown and all irresponsible employers suppressed the evidence and continued to expose their employees to all manner of hazardous chemicals and materials, including asbestos for the next 50 years or more

Before mesothelioma treatments improved over 100,000 asbestos related deaths had occurred in the US shipbuilding industry alone.

As the Twin Towers fell in 2001 over 1000 tons of asbestos was released into the lungs of New Yorkers

 Governments too were originally complicit in promoting ignorance in the face of evidence. But, as you would hope, it was from governments that the first moves to ban asbestos came.  Most western countries now  have complete bans on the production and use of asbestos. Unfortunately, despite the above facts, this ban on asbestos use does not include the United States 

Canada was a major producer and particularly slow to legislate, it was not until 2018 that a total ban was imposed, but even then the Liberal Government of Justin Trudeau has left the door open for re-processing of the asbestos tailings which remain around the closed mines in Quebec. This decision will have the potential to allow deaths from a disease with a fifty plus year latency (incubation period) to continue for the remainder of this century. The world wide asbestos lobby which, like the tobacco industry, uses pseudo science to promote its lethal products is still headquartered in Quebec

 The exclusive link between mesothelioma and asbestos explains why asbestos personal injury claims are the most common types of litigation in the US today. When many US Asbestos companies filed for bankruptcy in the 1980’s they set up trusts to cover future personal injury claims. The associated costs of fees and compensation are expected to reach more than $200 BILLION. 

These trusts are worth billions and with such an undeniable cause and so many victims it is not surprising that litigation is very common. However although pursuing a claim in the US can be very lucrative it is still not a straightforward task and can take a considerable length of time.

Let me also say that the legal burden of proof  and compensation amounts can vary significantly, between countries.  As I only have detailed knowledge of making a claim in the UK any advice on making claims in other countries must come from your mesothelioma claim advisor, lawyer or attorney.

 When my first specialist announced my mesothelioma diagnosis and asked had I ever been in contact with asbestos I was in such a state of shock that I couldn’t  process it. But after I started chemo I began to try to think where and when I might have been exposed.

 In my job as an Engineering Designer I was occasionally required to visit oil process plants, these visits would often require going into normally inaccessible areas to take measurements. These plants all had records of installed asbestos. So these places were my first suspects, but how can you ever truly know or prove it?

 I first investigated making a claim through my Canadian Provincial Workers Compensation system. I soon gave up when I found that they would not consider any claim from anyone over 65. Ridiculous when you consider mesothelioma often has a latency of over 50 years meaning I would have to have been exposed at 15 or earlier.

 It began to seem that due to all previous Canadian government’s complete support of the asbestos mining industry rather than their victims and the fact that I had no proof of asbestos exposure or a known defendant it was unlikely that a private personal injury claim in Canada would ever be successful in my lifetime.

 Then I found Rohan Atherton.  Rohan is a mesothelioma claim advisor who’s practice, Atherton Law, advises mesothelioma victims on compensation regardless of where in the world they live or were exposed. He has offices in Canada and Australia and advises clients mainly from Canada, the UK, US and Australia but often has enquiries from other countries.                                                         

Rohan first asked me to make a list of all the building sites or industrial facilities I’d visited in the course of my career. As soon as I started this list I began to remember my very first job in the UK way back in 1965 when I was an apprentice heating engineer. I usually worked in an office but as part of my apprenticeship I was seconded to a large building site in West London for a year’s practical experience. 

I clearly remember that the engineers shared a site hut with the ‘lagger’s’ who insulated the pipes. In those days they mixed asbestos and magnesium into a slurry and spread it onto the pipes. The mixing process created clouds of dust and this permeated the lagger’s overalls with  white asbestos dust. I often had to go into their side of the hut to make the tea when they were on their break, I was also often around the areas where they worked while I was inspecting progress.

It is not uncommon for such  minimal secondary exposure to result in mesothelioma. There have been many documented cases of wives and children of asbestos workers contracting mesothelioma from only the exposure to their husband’s or father’s overalls.

 When Rohan received my list he decided that my work experience in the UK had by far the strongest evidence of asbestos exposure. He also pointed out that a successful claim was more likely in the UK because the law favored the claimant and could be made “on the balance of probabilities”  This means that I did not have to prove conclusively that my company had negligently caused my exposure. I only had to provide evidence that I was in a location where the circumstances pointed to a strong possibility of asbestos exposure.

This is a relatively new legal position in the UK, previous to 2007 a mesothelioma victim was forced to prove that they were exposed by a specific company. The company would aggressively defend and the victim often died before the case was heard.

 At this point Rohan, my mesothelioma claim advisor, recommended that I get in touch with Thompsons in Newcastle , a firm of Solicitors who deal exclusively with Industrial Injury claims specialising in asbestos related diseases in the UK. 

 Over the next two and a half years I worked closely with my mesothelioma claim advisor at Thompsons putting together statements of claim and my case for compensation against the defendant who was now the insurance company representing my former employer who had long since gone out of business.

 Even though there was no opposition from the defendant a compensation claim is complex, it  involves many different areas of compensation. For this reason it took 2 years to reach settlement. However fairly soon after the process started I was awarded a lump sum disability payment together with a disability pension from the UK Dept of Pensions. The lump sum had to be repaid after settlement but the pension is for life. Once it was clear that the claim would go through I also received a significant interim advance  payment on the claim.

 So the claim is now paid but I was never charged by Thompsons for their considerable services. In the UK the solicitor or lawyer makes a separate claim on the defendant for their costs, it is not deducted from the claimants compensation.

The compensation I received is a lump sum but it also contains the provision that should a new immunotherapy treatment or clinical trial for mesothelioma become available that is not covered by my Canadian Health Scheme. With the recommendation of my oncologist I can make an application for the defendant to fund that treatment over and above the compensation that has already been paid. Providing it is a recognised treatment it is likely that the funding will be granted.

About Me

When I started chemo I didn’t realise that mesothelioma treatment can cause a blood clot or DVT complications.  

I thought twice about including this as it is a negative incident in what I think is a relatively positive story. But I wanted to tell the whole story and as I said earlier this is an incident that may be unique to me and not necessarily representative of the treatment of mesothelioma. 

After my third session of chemo I became aware of a pain and swelling in the lower part of my left leg. It was a Friday night and my only option was to go to the emergency room of my local hospital, not the best place to be when you have an immune system compromised by chemo.

 Fortunately they were very aware of that fact and put a mask on me and then straight into a private room. That’s where the special treatment ended, I still had to wait a couple of hours before a doctor showed up.

Almost immediately he suspected a blood clot or DVT. I was given an Injection of Innohep (Tinzaparin) and told I had to go back on Saturday night and Sunday night for more shots which involved the same wait time.

 On Sunday afternoon my oncologist phoned me at home. I was pleasantly surprised,  I assume he had been alerted by the hospital. He told me that the combination of cancer and chemotherapy can thicken the blood, this treatment can cause a blood clot or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) complications.

As I had a previous history from a few years before after a long haul flight this meant I was susceptible and unfortunately this meant I would be on blood thinners for life.

 After the previous DVT I was put on warfarin (Coumadin) but as this had never been tested on cancer/chemo patients I would have to self inject Innohep every day for life! The only good news was that my health care would cover the cost of over $10,000 a year

 Not exactly what you want to hear anytime especially in the middle of a chemo course. It really was a pain, figuratively and sometimes physically, every day, rain or shine, on vacation or not, the first thing you’ve got to do after you wake up is stick a needle in your stomach!

 I stood it for 18 months and then one day I was trolling through that internet thing I told you to avoid and I came across an article about rivaroxaban (Xarelto) an oral blood thinner that had good results after a limited study on cancer patients

I mentioned it to my friend, the oncologist and he said yes!

 I was so relieved ! a negative beginning  with a positive ending

About Me

At my first my mesothelioma chemotherapy treatment session I realised that anyone, like the former me, who thought that cancer only happens to ‘other people’ should visit the chemotherapy treatment room of a large cancer center.  In my chemo room there are perhaps 100 big comfy treatment chairs in a large open plan room with privacy curtains, usually left open. It has large picture windows which face a beautiful expansive view over a river valley, very restful.

The point is that during each of my five 4 hour mesothelioma chemotherapy treatment sessions none of those 100 chairs were ever empty for long. Different chemo’s take varying amounts of time but within 10 minutes of a treatment ending each chair was re-occupied by a new patient. I am sure that every day is the same.

 So you and all these ‘other people’ have cancer, it is shocking, humbling and ,in a strange way, comforting. Shocking because of the sheer number of cancer sufferers, humbling because however serious you believe your condition is, it is obvious there are others who are not as fortunate and comforting because it reinforces that you are not alone.

My mesothelioma chemotherapy treatment sessions were scheduled for 6 sessions three weeks apart .  Prior to each treatment I was prescribed several anti –nausea medications and additional B12 for energy. The chemo drugs were the usual meso mix of pemetrexed and cisplatin  with lots of saline solution.

The first session was reassuring, the nurses were caring and professional, the atmosphere was relaxing and the 4 hour session went quickly. The only side effect during the session was lots of peeing due to the large amount of intravenous saline. For that first session my daughter drove my wife and I to and from the hospital, but for all other sessions I felt well enough to drive there and back.

 The next day I felt very tired but not unwell, over the next 3 or 4 days I gradually regained my strength, after which I felt completely normal. Longer term but temporary side effects were that my sense of smell was affected in strange ways  – I thought my wife was boiling cabbage whenever she was cooking! Those aggressive drugs may attack tumors but they also destroy good stomach bacteria, I got a lot of gas which I treated with probiotics and Kombucha. But I kept my hair!

There was one side effect that was not quite so trivial but it had a good ending. You can read about it here

 As the sessions went on the tiredness began to last longer. After the fifth session a few weeks before Christmas my oncologist decided I’d had enough. He explained that the most beneficial effects of chemo are usually the first sessions, after that the effectiveness is reduced.

He felt that the quality of life versus effective treatment must be balanced, he cancelled the final session and let me have a great family Christmas. I was so grateful for that decision. Again he had shown that empathy that had impressed me when we first met.

 While on the subject of empathy I want to pay tribute to all the acts of kindness and support I received from family and friends.  For instance I was so touched and surprised when two of my friends and work colleagues independently showed up to 2 of my chemo sessions just to keep me and my wife company and chat.

Thank you Heather and Sylvie. 

Other friends who regularly message me to check that I’m doing OK. Thank you Trish and Gudrun.

Then there was my best friend who called me after my first session and offered me a job.

I initially told him I couldn’t accept as I was only fit to work 2 weeks out of 3. He said no problem, do what you can when you can, work from home if you want.  I hadn’t worked for 9 months and was beginning to feel I was now defined by my illness.

To be back in the workforce with normal people after so long was such a huge boost to my ego and sense of well being. Thank you Richard.

And of course a huge thank you to my wife and family to whom I caused great distress , but who continue to support me with love, happiness and some very long distance air travel.

Sadly there were also a couple of “friends” who just disappeared, don’t know why , scared maybe?

Not worth wasting words over. 

 So my mesothelioma chemotherapy treatment ended in early December 2016 and my first Scan In 2017 showed no tumor growth or pleural thickening. I now have CT scans every 3 months and that stability has continued for the past 3 years.

My oncologist was pleased, always a good thing! He says that as I responded well to my first chemo I will probably respond equally well  should I ever need another course. The recession ended my job a year after chemo, but I was well past retirement age anyway. Time to relax and enjoy life and concentrate on getting compensation.

I am still asymptomatic, but I work out regularly to ensure my lung capacity is still good. I am in general good health and my wife and I still manage to go for long distance walking holidays in Europe.

If it can happen to me, I hope it can happen to you!

About Me

The diagnosis of asymptomatic pleural mesothelioma is fairly uncommon, in my case it was a series of lucky coincidences.

In early 2014 I was laid off from my job as an Engineering Designer of refineries and chemical plants. Like many others in the business I was self employed, so the layoff was without notice, compensation or employment insurance. It was a technically skilled and well paid career but this type of engineering was systematically being outsourced to Asia, it was also the start of the oil price collapse. These 2 conditions combined to cause the recession which continues to this day.

 Over the next 2 years I was laid off 3 more times from temporary jobs that were not as technically challenging nor as well paid, at this time I was a smoker and had been for most of my adult life.

The combination of reduced income and rising cigarette taxes encouraged me to try vaping. This was before the current media hysteria. The least known or understood advantage of vaping is that  you can choose the level of nicotine in the vaporising fluid, this enables you to gradually reduce the level to zero.

Over the next 6 months this is exactly what I did, once I reached zero I found I had kicked the nicotine addiction. So as I no longer had the desire to smoke or vape I just gave it up. I had quit smoking without ever really intending to!

Although the diagnosis of asymptomatic pleural mesothelioma is fairly uncommon I had no associated health issues, no cough, no shortness of breath from either smoking or meso, I was generally fit and healthy for my age ,despite many years of stupidly smoking. In other words I was completely asymptomatic.

 So in late 2015 I saw an invitation to apply to join a long term study of the health of ex-smokers. It was being conducted by my local University hospital and I applied. I heard nothing until July 2016 when I received notification of my acceptance into the study. I was informed that the first step would be a CT scan to establish my baseline lung condition for the purposes of future study, the appointment was made and I had the scan in August.

 Two weeks later I received a message to say that there was “an anomaly” on my scan that the specialist heading the study would like to discuss with me. At the appointment I was told that there was a small “shadow” on my left lung and what appeared to be a build up of fluid.

It was probably benign but they wanted to drain the fluid to test before deciding whether a full biopsy was required. The fluid was drained, painlessly, and I awaited the result with trepidation but hoping for the best.

  At the next appointment I was first given a lung capacity test, basically taking a very deep breath and blowing for as long as possible through a flow meter. The nurse conducting the test remarked  “Well there’s nothing wrong with your lungs”.

 So I was completely unprepared for the specialist’s announcement 10 minutes later “I’m afraid the fluid biopsy indicates you have Pleural Mesothelioma, it’s an incurable cancer that can be fatal but can sometimes be treated. Have you ever had exposure to asbestos? Because that is the only known cause of this disease”

 Meso-what? I’d never heard of it, all I heard was incurable and fatal. This devastating diagnosis had just changed my life in an instant. I drove home in a daze, all I could think of was how long have I got, will I see my grandchildren turn 5, how will my wife and family cope and do I have time to decorate the front room and finish clearing out the garage?

They become your only and constant thoughts. Within days my wife and I were both on sleeping tablets.

 My youngest daughter had recently given birth to our second grandchild so rather than spoil her happiness we decided not to tell her or our other daughter until we had found out more about my future mesothelioma prognosis. I mistakenly started internet searches and what I read was not good.

There are hundreds of mesothelioma web sites out there, nearly all of them start with the frightening and depressing cloned myths that surround this disease.  You already know these “facts” and that they don’t necessarily apply to you, why would you need to  constantly remind yourself of them when you are trying to build hope for a positive outcome?

DON’T DO IT!

Remember trust your oncologist, know only what you need to know, don’t seek out meaningless and negative statistics. 

 The University hospital specialist referred me to a treating oncologist attached to the cancer center of our main hospital and I had an appointment with him less than 2 weeks after my diagnosis.

 This was where the hope started. I immediately got on well with my oncologist, he was very straight while being empathetic, he explained that, yes mesothelioma is still incurable, but given the fact that I had an early diagnosis while asymptomatic (no symptoms) and that there had been tremendous treatment advances over the past ten years there was every reason to believe that this disease could continue to be –

 “A TREATABLE CHRONIC CONDITION”

 Those words and his attitude since have given me hope and confidence especially in those moments of doubt and worry. I believe now that it is incredibly important to have that trusting  relationship with your oncologist.

As I have said,  the diagnosis of asymptomatic pleural mesothelioma is fairly uncommon.  Like many cancers mesothelioma is insidiously asymptomatic and often only becomes symptomatic when it has reached a critical stage. So early detection and treatment of any cancer including mesothelioma can make a crucial difference.

The moral of my story is if you suspect that you have ever had even a minimal exposure to asbestos, GET TESTED.   Remember mesothelioma can have a latency of over 50 years, so test every year to be sure.

I was lucky………………………be proactive!

​Chemotherapy was scheduled to start in early September 2016.

About Me