Where Can Mesothelioma Patients Find Hope?

• Lisa Hyde-Barrett
• Nurse's Corner, Patients

With the state of the world right now, it is hard to maintain a hopeful outlook. Is there a place for hope?

From the larger version of what is going on in the world’s stage, to the very personal journeys we are all on, is hope enough or even possible with the current world events? It is hard not to despair against the overwhelming odds and events that are going on. Despair being the opposite of hope.

When diagnosed with a life threatening cancer, or any time we pause to reflect on our lives, we review our wishes, our hopes, and what has happened to our lives. Our hopes range the spectrum and are as different as we all are. We hope for a cure for our disease. Hope for no pain. Hope that your loved ones’ pain is eased. Hope that our time left is meaningful. Hope plays a part in any cancer journey. 

A pioneer in Mesothelioma research, Dr. David Sugarbaker, used to say “when hope is in the equation, the odds don’t matter.”

What if despite what you hope for, the outcome is not what you wanted? What do we do when we lose a loved one to cancer?

One person turned their despair into hope and hope for others. In 2009, Greg Chastain lost his mother to cancer. One of the things that he enjoyed doing and his mother enjoyed watching was his performances in community theaters. When his mother died he was appropriately devastated. A week after, he went on with the show he had planned to be in. His theater family was so supportive, he decided to do a one time benefit to raise money for cancer research.

The benefit was such a success, he started Voices for Hope. “We are ordinary people on an extraordinary mission to find a cure for cancer.” Voices of Hope, all volunteer performers whose lives have been affected in some way by cancer, perform and raise money  and donate all of it to cancer research, for the collective good. Research toward a cure. One person turning despair into hope. Hope for a cure for cancer.

Research for malignant mesothelioma has long been supported by individuals who have been affected by this disease. Maybe the cure did not come in their lifetimes, or their loved ones’ lifetime, but maybe it will come in their children’s lifetime. Hope for better outcomes, for the collective good.

To have hope is to want an outcome that makes your life better. We hope that this positive example that one person took with his despair may potentially help to impact  many of us, through successful research to a cure.

As we  all collectively join together, w  hope for peace.