Read Up on Mesothelioma During Health Literacy Month

• Joseph Belluck
• Faces of Mesothelioma

October is Health Literacy Month, a time to focus on finding ways to more clearly communicate health information. This year’s theme is, “Be a literacy hero.” Many people ranging from lay people to nurses and doctors have done incredible things to promote this cause.

Throughout the last year and a half, my family has been provided with a lot of information about mesothelioma, treatments, clinical trials and the like. Some pieces of literature seemed easy to understand, others were much more complex. Thankfully, Dad has some of the most amazing doctors in the world who are knowledgeable and kind and are willing to sit with us and answer any questions that we may have.

There are many different resources readily available to those seeking answers or doing some of their own studies. Many internet websites are credible and valid; just research them a bit before you take their words as gold. There are podcasts, seminars, and workshops for all different topics that you can attend. Books abound in information, but again, be sure to check how current the data is. New research is done every day! Also, be sure to separate opinion pieces from literature based on hard facts.

Writing this blog and reading the others on this site have been a great source of information for me. I have learned about new studies, treatments, and ways to cope with a mesothelioma diagnosis. The great saying that “knowledge is power” rings true once again. I hope that I have been able to provide some hope and useful tips through this forum; please feel free to contact me any time if I can help you!