47-year-old Ruth Phillips was devastated to hear that she was suffering from a disease she hadn’t even heard of until then. Ruth was diagnosed with Mesothelioma in 1999, a rare cancer of the lining of the lungs, the heart, and the stomach.
Every year, about 3000 people in America alone are diagnosed with Mesothelioma and an equal number of people succumb to the same .But many mesothelioma survivors across the globe have beaten such odds to rise above the challenge and prolong their lives, sometimes up to a decade from the year of diagnosis. The web is full of survival stories from such inspiring mesothelioma victors who are more than willing to share their accounts.
Kathleen from Wisconsin was not deterred by her first prognosis. It was a second and a third opinion that opened doors to a pleurectomy surgery for her. Her faith in God, she says, has been her most important companion during the course of her treatment .Tim C., the brave heart from Kennesaw took advantage of the age on his side and opted for an aggressive extrapleural pneumonectomy surgery, which enabled him to cross the 10-year survivor mark during which he has lived a whole another lifetime .Jodi P. celebrated her success at her 30th birthday with valour as she crossed skydiving off her bucket list, something she wasn’t going to refrain from doing just because she was dragonised with mesothelioma at a tender age of 26.Take a leaf out of Paul’s story, whose mesothelioma survival story has made it into a book of its own! And why shouldn’t it? For in 1997, doctors presented Paul with a prognosis of no more than a few months.His mesothelioma was in its advanced stage and medication options were scarce .And yet, through a complete change in his lifestyle and diet and help from his doctors, Paul managed to beat the odds and became the longest living mesothelioma survivor.His book, “Surviving Mesothelioma and Other Cancers: A Patient’s Guide” is now a source of inspiration for many others like him, a handbook of guidance and a story of survival no one except for someone who has sailed through the storm of mesothelioma can entail.Mesothelioma.com has brought forth the story of Sean Gee, a mesothelioma “warrior” celebrating 19-years of remission post a surgery for testicular mesothelioma.
More than any survival statistics, it is these survival stories that continue to inspire thousands diagnosed with mesothelioma every year. Given that the data that sources mesothelioma survival statistics depend only on cases in the past, and are subject to the treatment options available to them then, it is safe to assume that all these factors have some degree of inaccuracy associated with them. Through sheer willpower, faith, support from family and friends, proper care, and a healthy lifestyle, mesothelioma patients continue to prolong their remission years and write stories of inspiration for many others like them.
