Asbestos Mesothelioma: Creating a Better Life Proved Fatal

Panama City, FLFrances' husband Charles was riddled with cancer when he died in 1998. The cancer could have been caused by more than 35 years exposure to asbestos in the building that housed their business. Now Frances and her daughter are wondering if they may at risk for the same fate.

In the early 1970s Charles and Frances bought a building in Florida, and started a motorcycle and automobile repair shop. They worked there on a daily basis for more than three decades without knowing that the building contained asbestos. And if that weren't enough, the brake shoes that Charles worked on would have contained asbestos. But the dangers of asbestos weren't widely known at the time.

"It wasn't until 1991 that my husband noticed he wasn't feeling well," Frances said. "So we went to the doctor. It turned out he had cancer on one of his vocal cords. Three years later cancer appeared on the other vocal cord. He underwent radiation for the cancer on his first vocal cord, but they couldn't do that for the second vocal cord, so they gave him laser therapy. Then about four years later, one morning before we went into work, my husband showed me a lump on his lower right abdomen. So we went to the doctor. The doctor thought it was just a cyst, and put him on antibiotics. But before three days had passed, the lump had grown from the size of a small marble to a ping pong ball. So he went to see a surgeon, who admitted him to hospital. Within two and a half days of being admitted the lump had grown to the size of a lemon and it was as hard as could be.

The surgeon operated and removed the entire lump, and three days later he told us that it was cancerous. My husband then underwent radiation to the area, but a week and a half into radiation treatment another growth appeared. This one started out the size of a ping pong ball. As a result, the doctors advised us that the cancer had spread throughout his system, and further radiation wouldn't be necessary.

At this time he also had his lungs checked again. I'm a retired nurse, and I saw his x-rays. You couldn't even see his lungs there was so much cancer in his chest. The doctors gave him six weeks, and he lived four weeks and three days. We tried to go home, but he was getting so bad, it just wasn't possible. I stayed nine days without leaving the hospital." Charles passed away in 1998.

Frances had no idea their shop had asbestos in it. In fact it was her daughter who uncovered the documents that state there is asbestos in the building materials. While the cause of her husband`s cancer was never determined, Frances thinks it could be related to the asbestos exposure.

"I have a book on asbestos," Frances said. "My husband had every symptom it describes for asbestosis and mesothelioma. I am short of breath, and I have problems with my intestines, which could be a symptom. My daughter also came to the shop a lot, and she has lung problems. I would like to be tested but we don't have a lot of money for that."

Frances would like some answers. Indeed Frances needs some answers. Asbestosis and mesothelioma take years to manifest, years that could be used to prepare for the deterioration in health associated with these illnesses. Financial compensation is part of that preparation, and a lawyer may be able to help with that.