Talking to Your Mesothelioma Doctor

An open line of communication with your doctor is essential in receiving care and dealing with pain. Many mesothelioma patients have a fear of their doctor perceiving them as a complainer, and do no receive an adequate dose of pain medication as a result. Consult with your doctor immediately upon noticing any pain as a result of treatment or otherwise. This is important, because as the pain intensifies it can become difficult to control. Remember, it is your right to obtain the best care possible, which includes adequate pain relief.

Here is a checklist of things to discuss with your mesothelioma doctor or nurse:

• Tell them where it hurts, when it hurts, and how intense the pain is.
• Tell them what makes the pain feel worse and what makes it feel better.
• Tell them how quickly your pain comes on, how long it lasts and how often it occurs.
• If you are taking pain medications, be sure to discuss how much relief you get.
• Discuss how the pain is affecting your life and what activities you are unable to perform because you are in pain. Include information about your appetite, your ability to sleep, and whether you can perform your normal daily functions.

Questions to ask your mesothelioma doctor or nurse include:

• What types of medication(s) are available for my pain? What are the side effects of each type of drug?
• How should this medicine be taken?
• How long should I take it?
• Are there drug interactions with other drugs I am taking?
• Can you suggest any non-drug methods to relieve my pain? (Medical professionals, however, are not always the best source for non-drug or alternate therapies for pain control. Many doctors and nurses are not aware of alternative therapies for mesothelioma, or they may not believe that they work. We have included a section on alternative/complementary methods of pain control based on the literature (both printed and electronic) and anecdotal reports from patients about what has worked for them. Click on to the alternative therapy section to learn more about these approaches.)

Assessing Mesothelioma Cancer Pain

An accurate assessment of pain caused by malignant mesothelioma is essential to determining the appropriate treatments. Due to the fact that pain is invisible to others, it is easy to understand that the role of the patient is extremely important is the treatment process.

Below are a number of guidelines designed to assist you in working with your physician and health care providers in determining the extent of your pain:

• Take notes about your pain--its location, intensity, etc.
• Ask questions--this is important in fully understanding treatment options.
• Have a note taker--have a friend of family member take notes during conversations with your physician.
• Don't be afraid to tell your physician your own opinion . sometimes this is important in receiving the best treatment.

These are points to consider as you prepare to discuss your mesothelioma pain and its management with your health care providers:

• The location of all of your pains.
• How the pain feels (use descriptive words such as dull, aching, throbbing, stabbing, piercing, pinching, sharp, aching, burning, tingling).
• The intensity of your pain, and its level during different points of the day.
• Whether the pain is occasional or continuing.
• How quickly the pain comes on (suddenly or intermittently), how long it lasts (a few minutes or several hours), and how often it occurs.
• Conditions that intensify the pain
• Conditions/medications that ease the pain.
• Current medications you are taking
• Side effects of medications
• Impact the pain is having on your life
• Your quality of life goals

Emotional Support to Help Ease the Pain

Family emotional support is just as important as treatment and medication in dealing with pain. Fear, anxiety and depression can magnify pain felt by a mesothelioma patient, and by improving overall mental health these symptoms can be minimized.

In order to to do this, care should focus on:

• Helping the patient accept and understand the diagnosis
• Deal with end of life issues
• Understand the effects of the diagnosis on his/her family
• Make informed decisions on treatment options

Mesothelioma Cancer Pain

What is Mesothelioma Cancer Pain?

Pain is a stimulus transmitted throughout the body by the central nervous system as a result of nerves detecting bodily damage. When damage occurs, an impulse is sent along nerve pathways to the brain, which interprets the impulses as pain. Nerve damage itself can also result in pain. Pain has two major forms: acute and chronic.

Acute Pain is often a sharp, sudden pain, and may trigger responses from the body such as an elevated blood pressure, sweat, and even shock. This type of pain is usually caused by immediate injuries sustained by the body, and typically is relieved when the injury is treated.

Chronic pain is the lasting variety. Pain is considered chronic when it lasts beyond the time expected for an injury to heal. Due to its persistence, chronic pain can cause high levels of stress and requires a high level of attention to be treated. This is the pain commonly associated with cancer, and can be treated by a number of methods.

It is possible to manage pain caused by mesothelioma. In modern medicine a vast array of pain relief therapies exist, meaning patients should not have to cope with unrelieved pain. Although these pain relief therapies exist, it has been shown that many mesothelioma patients. pain is left under treated. This can be a result of either poor communication between the patient and care provider, or a lack of understanding on the part of the physician. In many cases, physicians are most focused upon controlling the disease, and may be reluctant to prescribe opioid painkillers to patients.

Quality of Life Issues

To those living with mesothelioma, life is precious. When pain becomes part of one's daily life, however, these days are diminished and quality of life is eroded.

Following are some of the effects pain has on quality of life:

• sleep is disturbed
• impaired ability to work
• constant tiredness or exhaustion
• depression or sadness
• decreased appetite
• simple pleasures such as enjoying one's family are impaired or given up
• trips and vacations are uncomfortable or impossible
• reluctance to move
• feelings of isolation or loneliness
• family and friends who are caregivers become exhausted

Every mesothelioma cancer patient who has experienced unrelieved pain can provide his or her own examples of the damage pain can do to one's life.

Even if you believe that you, personally, can tolerate the pain you feel from mesothelioma or mesothelioma treatments, consider this: by living in pain, you are depriving those who love and care for you the full pleasure of your company. To continue to suffer when pain relief is available not only hurts yourself, but also those who care for you.

It's important to understand, too, that mesothelioma pain can undermine your ability to fight your cancer. If pain has you in its grip, your appetite diminishes. This means you may not be receiving sufficient nutrition to retain energy, which, in turn, leads to exhaustion and feelings of sadness and depression. As this cycle continues, a person is worn down gradually, may become more vulnerable to infection, and the ability to withstand necessary cancer treatments may diminish.

What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer affecting the abdominal cavity, chest cavity, and the region surrounding the heart. Due to its uncommon nature, mesothelioma is typically difficult to diagnose and treat. It has been connected with exposure to asbestos, a material formerly present in many work environments. Only about 3,000 individuals are diagnosed annually.

Individuals with a history of extended asbestos exposure are at the highest risk for developing malignant mesothelioma. Even a small exposure to this cancer-causing material can result in malignant mesothelioma. However, mesothelioma has a latency of up to thirty-forty years, and many individuals previously exposed to asbestos are now displaying symptoms. This means the average age of mesothelioma patients is between 50 and 70 years. Men are typically affected more, due to the common presence of asbestos in industrial settings. There are three major types of malignant mesothelioma . epithelial, sarcomatoid, and mixed. Epithelial mesothelioma is most common. Symptoms may include, but are not limited to respiratory distress, a lasting cough, and pneumonia. In addition, symptoms are often mistaken for less serious ailments, and many patients do not show any signs at all.

Individuals with pleural mesothelioma may accumulate some fluid between the lung lining and chest cavity. This can be detected through a chest x-ray, as well as CT scans.

Diagnosis of Mesothelioma is based on a pathological exam, more commonly referred to as a biopsy. This exam will test a tissue sample for the presence of malignant and/or pleural mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Source is dedicated to providing victims and their families with the latest Mesothelioma news and information. Even though this is a relatively rare disease, it can affect thousands of families each year. If you or one of your loved ones would like more information, please don't hesitate to request a free information packet.

Asbestos as the Primary Cause of Mesothelioma

Asbestos is a type of insulation material, which was used widely in the past in the following industries:

• Construction industry
• Ship building industry
• Automotive industry
• Other manufacturing industries

Mesothelioma occurred most often in persons who worked in the above industries and were exposed to asbestos in their workplace. The use of asbestos was very widespread after 1945. However, first symptoms of mesothelioma may not become apparent 10-40 years after the initial exposure, which makes it very hard to diagnose. The peak in mesothelioma cases is expected to be reached around 2010 according to some studies. There are three most commonly used types of asbestos: white, brown, and blue. Brown and blue asbestos are most commonly associated with mesothelioma. These types of asbestos have been banned by most countries in the 1990s.

Asbestos is a very dangerous substance and can cause a lot of damage to your health. It is made up of very small fibers, which can find their way to pleura (outside lining of the lung) and damage the cells pleura is made of. These fibers can also be carried on clothing, which makes them dangerous not only to the person exposed to asbestos, but to their family members as well.

Note of Urgency

Mesothelioma is a life-threatening disease and cannot be left untreated. The sooner it is diagnosed the better a patient's chances are of fighting this deadly cancer. Please contact a qualified physician immediately if you or someone you know has been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Causes

This cancer is caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos. Asbestos was a commonly used building material years ago before anyone knew how hazardous it was to their health. It is a natural fiber that is still mined all over the world today.

Summary

Asbestos is a natural mineral that is made up of varying lengths of fibers. These asbestos fibers we now know is carcinogenic (cancer causing). When asbestos is disturbed, as in renovations of old houses, the asbestos dust and fibers become airborne. These airborne particles are then swallowed or inhaled and become lodged in the soft tissue of the body, usually in the lungs. The immune system kicks in and inflammation is the result. The body can't remove foreign bodies so it attempts to break down these fibers, and scarring occurs. This stage is called asbestosis. Asbestosis is not a cancer; it is an uncomfortable lung condition that, years later can leads to the development of abnormal cells. These cells eventually develop into tumors. This is now mesothelioma. Please fill out the form below if you'd like to receive more information on this disease.

Types of Mesothelioma

Depending on where the asbestos fibers become lodged in the body, determines the type of mesothelioma that a person develops. There are three main kinds of mesothelioma.

Pleural mesothelioma is the most common type. In this case, the asbestos particles have been inhaled and become embedded in the lining of the chest cavity.

Peritoneal mesothelioma is the second most common form. Here the asbestos particles were swallowed directly or somehow caught up in the mucous in the trachea and swallowed that way. They have traveled down to the stomach and become embedded in the abdominal wall.

Pericardial mesothelioma is the rarest form of this disease and is responsible for less than 10% of the patients diagnosed with mesothelioma. The pericardium is the sac of tissue covering the heart and the base of the main blood vessels. It's unknown for sure how the particles make their way to the chest region but the current theory believes the particles are somewhat broken down by the body and are possibly carried via the bloodstreams into the heart where they become embedded in the pericardium.

Diagnosis

Part of the problem with making a correct diagnosis of mesothelioma is the length of time between the exposure to asbestos and the time it takes for the symptoms to appear. In many cases signs of mesothelioma don't show up for twenty to thirty or even forty years later. Initially, the symptoms appear as a tight sensation in the chest, coughing, maybe some vomiting, possibly even weight loss. But this could pass as flu or cold symptoms. Over time, these symptoms get worse, the tightness in the chest becomes more severe, abdominal pain starts, there is trouble breathing, and the weight loss and vomiting could become quite severe. It's at this point that most people go and see their physician.

He would, hopefully know about your asbestos exposure, and therefore would take a complete medical history and do a comprehensive physical exam. He would be looking for:

• Fluid in the chest cavity (signs of pleural mesothelioma),
• Fluid in the abdomen (signs of peritoneal mesothelioma),
• Fluid in the pericardium (signs of pericardium mesothelioma).

The next step would be to order any of the following: a CAT scan, an MRI, or an x-ray.

Once a diagnosis has been made, a comprehensive treatment plan is developed. If at this point, you feel you'd like to receive more information please fill out the form below.

Treatment

As there is no cure for mesothelioma, all treatments are geared to prolonging the patient's life span and or making the patient as comfortable as possible by alleviating the painful symptoms.

• Surgery - some tumors may be removed. In the early stages of this disease, surgery can provide improvement in the symptoms and slow the disease's progression. In cases where the surgery has gone beyond the chest, this treatment option is less effective. It may help advanced cases breathe easier and feel more comfortable.
• Chemotherapy - used to stop the cancer cells from growing and dividing. This treatment uses very toxic drug (s) to kill the tumor cells but will also kill off many healthy cells. The newer drugs have shown fewer side effects and if some drugs are combined they can have the ability to reduce the toxic side effects.
• Radiation - this treatment sends high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells in a localized area. It's also used to shrink the size of the tumors prior to surgery and to reduce the level of discomfort. Even though radiation can more accurately target the affected area, some damage to healthy cells does occur.

As with most cancers, early detection leads to more treatment options. If the mesothelioma is not caught until it's already in an advanced state, then the prognosis is not very good. The survival rate from the time of diagnosis is usually less than one year.

It's natural when faced with such a difficult prognosis to look at alternative therapies not only as a potential improvement in your condition but also to improve your quality of life.