Today is Mesothelioma Awareness Day!
I was invited by Cameron Von St. James and his wife Heather to help spread the word today about mesothelioma. Heather is an eight year survivor of this horrible, and preventable, cancer. They have decided to make it their mission to help open peoples eyes to this horrible disease and today is especially important to them, as it is Mesothelioma Awareness Day.
If you've never heard of mesothelioma, or have heard of it but don't know much about it I'd like to share some astonishing facts about it. Some I didn't even know, and considering how easily it could be prevented it is heartbreaking that people are still be exposed to the causes of it today!
Lets start out with some simple facts. There are three types of mesothelioma:
and
It is caused by exposure to Asbestos. Some of its most common uses is in electrical and building insulation. But here's the thing. ANY amount of exposure to asbestos exposure can hurt you! AND (even worse!) it's still not banned in the U.S.!! I mean seriously I find this unbelievable! This is a substance that you can get sick from even through second hand contact. For example if you happen to touch someones jacket who has been working with the material and there are any fibers of it left there, YOU could get sick. I mean seriously in a country where there are wars on drugs, groups against drunk driving, even programs to encourage people to stop eating meat and fast food! But there isn't a petition out there or advertising on t.v. saying we need to ban this product! It's known to kill people, but it's still being used out there! What the heck?!?
Every year approximately 3000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma and given around 10 months to live. But here's the really scary part about that. It's been almost 30 years since asbestos was at it's peak use, yet people are still coming in contact with it and getting sick and it is the number one cause of occupational cancer.
Plus, not only is it difficult to diagnose because of its symptoms being similar to other respiratory conditions, symptoms themselves might not appear until almost 30-60 years after initial contact with asbestos. So say you grew up in an older home, or went to an older school, where asbestos was used as a common insulator back in the day. Say you only lived there for a year, or went to the school for a week. First you might not even have known the asbestos was there, but then on top of it the cancer wouldn't even become evident until 30 years later!! So you go about your life, not a care in the world. You don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't eat red meat. You exercise regularly, you've got a great job and an awesome spouse and are just hitting your stride in life. You're in your early 30's and you've just bought your first home and are getting ready to have your first kid and then....
BAM!
Outta no where you find out you have a cancer that's gonna kill you within' the year. Seriously WHAT THE HELL?!?!
And it could have been prevented by some big wig saying "Hey! This stuff kills people! Why are we still using it? Why are people still coming in contact with this shit? We need to get on the ball! Find out where this stuff is still in use. Test every home, every school, every public building, work place! Under every rock and behind every wall and GET RID OF THIS STUFF! NOW!"
But nobodies saying this. People are still being exposed. People are still getting sick and dying.
EVERY DAY!
I know by now most of you reading this are saying "Oh my God, this is horrible, this is disgusting. But really what can I do? I'm just one person. I work at a menial job for minimum wage. Nobody listens to me.
But wait, that's not true! You may just be one voice, but all it takes is one spark to start a fire. Take this information and use it. Find out more about mesothelioma and share the info you find! Share this post. Give a voice to the victims of this preventable killer. Help spread the word. This is a cancer that can be prevented and put an end to.
To find out more about mesothelioma follow the links in the above post and the links below.
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