Category: Family

Stand Up 2 Cancer Telethon Tonight – Tune In to Donate Funds for Mesothelioma Research

• Nancy Meredith
• For Your Family

All of the major television networks are standing by to broadcast the Stand Up 2 Cancer (SU2C) Telethon to raise funds for the fight against cancer. The live, one-hour, commercial-free fundraising event will be simulcast at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, E!, Discovery Health, HBO, Showtime, VH1 and other cable channels. The telethon will raise funds that will accelerate innovative cancer research that is critically important for finding a cure for mesothelioma and other incurable cancers.

SU2C announced last week the impressive lineup of actors supporting the event including Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Jessica Biel, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Seth Rogen, Emma Stone and SU2C Co-founder Katie Couric. In addition, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Alicia Keys and Tim McGraw will deliver “one-of-a-kind show performances” as they join celebrities from film, television and sports to engage viewers with powerful stories and a moving call-to-action.

100% of the monies raised during the telethon go directly to grants supporting cancer research.

According to SU2C, more than $180 million has been raised for innovative cancer research. Since 2008, SU2C has made grants to seven multidisciplinary “Dream Teams” of researchers as well as to 26 young innovative scientists who are undertaking the fight to end cancer. Eighty-five institutions are currently involved.

One of the ‘dream teams’ funded in 2008, the Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Chip Dream Team, developed a chip to allow physicians to identify the genetic “fingerprint” of a patient’s cancer cells. This discovery promotes the use of targeted and personalized treatments for cancer patients. As personalized treatment gains popularity, mesothelioma patients can benefit greatly as the disease symptoms, and thus the necessary treatment, can differ dramatically across patients.

More Hospitals Offer Mesothelioma Patients Palliative Care Options

• Nancy Meredith
• For Your Family

Palliative care has been gaining momentum in the medical community as a critical step for many terminally ill patients. For mesothelioma patients in the advanced stage of their cancer, turning to palliative care, which focuses on relieving symptoms and keeping the patient comfortable, offers them an opportunity to spend more time with their loved ones during their end of life.

Mesothelioma is one of the most aggressive and deadliest forms of cancer, with limited treatment options. Symptoms may not appear until up to 50 years after initial exposure to asbestos, the only known cause of the disease. However, once symptoms become apparent, mesothelioma may rapidly progress to cause life-threatening complications. The prognosis for mesothelioma patients is grim with the average survival time varying from 4 – 18 months after diagnosis.

Now, according to a new study from the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), mesothelioma patients may have more palliative care options available to them. CAPC reports the number of U.S. hospitals with palliative care teams increased for the 10th consecutive year. In 2010, there were 1,635 palliative care teams in hospitals in the United States, for an increase of 4.3% over 2009. CAPC reports palliative care has been one of the fastest growing trends in health care over the last ten years, growing nearly 150% since 2000.

66% of American hospitals now have palliative care teams. Hospitals in the northeast region of the U.S. have the highest percentage at 75.8%. The southern region of the U.S. offers the fewest palliative care options with just 52.7% of the hospitals reporting palliative care teams.

CAPC attributes the growth of palliative care “to the increasing number of Americans living with serious and chronic illnesses and to the caregiving realities faced by their families.”

In a separate study, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers attributed palliative care to increased survival rate among advanced lung cancer patients. The researchers cited improved mood and quality of life, as well as appropriate end-of-life care, for the improved survival rates.

MGH employs palliative care teams consisting of physicians, nurses, social workers and chaplains trained to help patients and their families facing terminal illness cope with the psychological and spiritual aspects of their disease, as well as managing symptoms.

Mesothelioma Cases in UK Due to Asbestos Exposure in Workplaces Rises

• Nancy Meredith
• Asbestos Exposure, Cancer, Family, Mesothelioma

A recent article published in the British Journal of Cancer discusses occupational cancers that are prevalent in Britain including lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that develops in the protective lining of the body’s organs known as the mesothelium. It is associated with exposure to asbestos, a mineral fiber used in many industries in the 20th century. Mesothelioma tumors most commonly appear in the lining of the chest cavity, but also may appear in the lining of the abdominal cavity or the lining around the heart.

According to the article, the number of mesothelioma deaths has increased markedly each year in Great Britain since the 1960s. Mesothelioma accounted for 2,046 cancer deaths in Great Britain in 2005 compared to 153 deaths in 1968, the year that Great Britain began a registry of mesothelioma deaths. The British Mesothelioma Register is the most comprehensive source of data on mesothelioma in the country.

Mesothelioma is more common in men who tend to have jobs in industries that had occupational risk of asbestos exposure. Among the industries that used asbestos and presented a higher risk of mesothelioma are mining and milling, insulating, shipyard work, sheet metal fabrication, asbestos by-products manufacturing, and the asbestos cement industry. Males account for about 85 percent of mesothelioma deaths each year.

Mesothelioma symptoms typically appear 30 to 40 years after exposure to asbestos, meaning that most people who develop the disease are older. They are often retired workers or veterans. About two-thirds of the people diagnosed with mesothelioma are between the ages of 60 and 80 years old, according to the article.

In addition to mesothelioma, the researchers at the British Occupational Cancer Burden Study Group say that a large number of studies report increased lung cancer among workers exposed to asbestos. All forms of asbestos cause cancer, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lung cancer ranks among the cancer with the highest number of cases associated with occupational exposures. The recent article cites a 1996 study from the American Journal of Occupational Medicine. The earlier article, by researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the United States, estimated that 9,900 to 11.900 develop lung cancer from occupational exposure to carcinogens and approximately half of the cases involve asbestos.

In the United States, approximately 2,500 to 3,000 people a year are diagnosed with mesothelioma. Most people were exposed to asbestos decades ago in a workplace or during military service such as while serving in the Navy.  Mesothelioma is an incurable disease, but there are treatment options to manage the cancer. Treatments are more effective if the cancer is detected before it has reached an advanced stage.

Work at Shipyards Raises Risk of Mesothelioma

• Nancy Meredith
• Asbestos Exposure, Cancer, Family

For decades, medical social worker Abby Shulman Palmer was perplexed by what caused the death of her father, a physicist who worked for many years at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Lester Shulman died of cancer in 1985 at age 69, but doctors never pinpointed where the cancer originated.

After Palmer took a job with the Mesothelioma Alliance as a social worker advocate providing information to mesothelioma patients about treatments and clinical trials, she educated herself about asbestos and gained new insights into her father’s illness.

Palmer, a native of Rockaway and graduate of Rutgers University, learned that the Brooklyn Navy Yard was a hotspot for asbestos exposure during World War II and afterward. Asbestos was widely used by the military in construction of ships because it was heat resistant, tough and inexpensive.

During World War II, Lester Shulman worked on a team that was developing degaussing procedures for U.S military ships to protect them from mines in the water. Degaussing is the process of eliminating unwanted magnetic fields. Asbestos dust was everywhere at Brooklyn Navy Yard, creating an occupational hazard to all workers. Shulman would have been regularly exposed to asbestos.

Inhaling asbestos causes serious respiratory disease including lung cancer and mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lung. Navy veterans and workers in shipyards have an elevated risk of developing mesothelioma because of the prevalence of asbestos, though disease symptoms take decades to show.

“When my dad died, all we knew was it was cancer, and that it had spread, but the doctors never figured out the primary site,” said Palmer, who is profiled in June issue of the Rutgers alumni magazine. “When I talked with my mother and sister about the possibility that it might be mesothelioma, they said, ‘Wow, that certainly is a possibility.’”

Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the United States. Most are older workers, retired workers and veterans (primarily Navy veterans and yardbirds) who were exposed to asbestos in a workplace.

The symptoms of asbestos disease such as chest pain, fatigue and difficulty breathing typically take 20 years to 50 years to appear. But once the disease appears, it advances aggressively. Mesothelioma is incurable, but there are treatments to control the disease if it is diagnosed at an early stage.

Mesothelioma Patients Can Direct Friends to MedGift.com for Support

• Nancy Meredith
• For Your Family

Diem Brown was just 22-years-old when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Now seven years later and suffering a relapse, she understands firsthand the issues cancer patients deal with on a day-to-day basis. Much like mesothelioma patients, Diem was not only overwhelmed by the disease, but also by the outpouring of support from friends and loved ones. Now when friends ask her “How can I help?” she can direct them to the patient registry website she developed – MedGift.com.

When a friend or loved one is diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused pulmonary cancer, the first question asked of the patient is “What can I do for you?” Brown realized that answering this could be challenging and even awkward at times. But realizing that brides and mothers-to-be have the ability to ask for gifts and support from friends through gift registries, Brown was inspired to establish a registry for patients.

MedGift allows mesothelioma patients to separate their help into three sections: needs, wants and wishes. In the “needs” section patients can request financial support for paying bills. Some hospitals are directly linked to MedGift allowing friends to make payments directly against a patient’s bill. Under the “wants” section patients can request tangible gifts such as a blanket for warmth when receiving chemotherapy to fight mesothelioma. In addition, patients can request “wishes” such as babysitting, transportation to appointments or simply a prayer.

“It’s the first ever Patient Gift Registry,” according to Brown. “Any patient, from cancer to car accidents to wounded warriors, can list their hospital bills, ask for wigs, wheelchairs, certain foods or cosmetics. Their friends, family and co-workers can then go on and select an item from their patient gift registry, without even having to ask.”

In addition to the gift registry functionality, MedGift offers an online community through social media capabilities. MedGift is a secure site and it offers patients the ability to personalize their registry with photos, journal entries and to connect to Facebook and Twitter. With so many surgeries, treatments and appointments, many mesothelioma patients and their families find keeping a journal of their progress is an easy way to keep friends and families apprised of their progress without having to contact everyone individually.

If someone you know is battling mesothelioma, offering them some words of encouragement through a card and visiting them lets them know they are not alone. But being able to provide tangible support through their MedGift registry can offer them support that can help alleviate the stress they may be feeling when trying to deal with all aspects of their cancer.

Diem Brown is an entertainment reporter for Sky Living and a recurring cast member on MTV’s reality television series The Challenge. Brown, now 30-years-old, just learned that her ovarian cancer has returned.

Learn more about mesothelioma.