Posted in May 2011
We have been touched by asbestos in individual ways, yet we are joined together by a common bond of community. As a testament to the strength of our global family, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is highlighting the courageous stories of our members with the new “Share Your Story” feature on our website.
This week, we would like to honor the story of Stan (“Swede”) as told through his daughter, Ann, who is a part of our ADAO family.
We encourage you to submit your personal stories by clicking here and following the simple instructions on the page. In sharing, comes healing. Remember, you are not alone.
STAN’S STORY
(shared by his daughter, Ann)
Name: Stan (“Swede”)
Age: 53
State: Oregon
Date of 1st Symptoms: 30-JAN-1981
Date of Diagnosis: 27-FEB-1981
Treatment: Exploratory surgery, cutting all the tumors on the plura, and then and “experimental” chemotherapy)
Date of Death: 1982
How has Asbestos changed your life? (unedited):
Losing my Dad to this horrible, preventable disease has caused me to continue to grieve his death from asbestos throughout my adult life. Injustice is a constant distraction, and always the perpetuating questions lurk regarding the question… why. Why did he have to die this way, why does anybody have to suffer and die from this disease, why the injustice continues. Other questions are; Will I experience the same suffering at the end of my life as my father did, due to my secondary exposure, he came home with asbestos on his clothes. Is that cough I might get with a cold, just a virus, or is it my time? Asbestos became a reminder of my own mortality at a young age, I was 22 years old when my Dad was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Through the opportunity to volunteer and support others through ADAO, I ask “why” less, and now advocate to know “when” better treatments will be developed for asbestos diseases, and ultimately a cure, the end all cure for the future is a ban of the use of asbestos, I hope to see it in my lifetime. To sum it all up, I now I carry in my heart, an expectation of justice…
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