Surviving Mesothelioma

This is a guest post by James Gregory of Cancer Monthly discussing the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

Often when you hear about mesothelioma and asbestos-related diseases, it’s a lawyer on a television commercial asking you to call his 800 number. Seldom do you hear about how and where people contract this deadly disease, or how it affects you personally.

Electricians were exposed to asbestos from both the products they used and the drilling and cutting they performed on structures. Working with asbestos insulated wires, electrical panels, insulation films, and arc chutes was a hidden hazard in the 60s and 70s, and running wires through asbestos-ridden, pre-1980 buildings is still a risk today. Drilling or cutting through old joint compound, dry wall, insulation, flooring and ceiling/roofing tiles can potentially release invisible asbestos fibers into the air and into your lungs.

Since asbestos is now regulated, this risk is steadily decreasing, so younger workers are less likely to be affected. However, many older and retired electricians are in still danger from prior exposure, and sadly, many are suffering now from asbestosis, pleural plaques and effusion, and malignancies like mesothelioma.

Paul Kraus knows this all too well. He was exposed to asbestos dust through industrial trade work in the 1960s. In 1997, 30 years later, while in the hospital for routine hernia surgery, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma and given less than 12 months to live.

Today, 16 years later, Paul Kraus is very much alive and is now reported as the longest living mesothelioma survivor in the world. In his book, he details how he worked with doctors to develop a treatment plan to overcome this asbestos-caused disease. If you or someone you know is in a similar situation, you can see how he did it by ordering a free copy of his book at www.survivingmesothelioma.com.

For more information about Mesothelioma, please visitMesothelioma.net.