International Womens Day An important part of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization’s (ADAO) mission is to be the Voice of the Victims. For this reason, our Share Your Story campaign is close to my heart. As it relates to my own story, I often share openly about my husband’s death from mesothelioma, but I rarely mention that I am a cancer survivor. Today, on International Women’s Day, I will tell my part of the story on the Asbestos Awareness and Support Cymru’s (AASC) website. Is it my maternal instinct, optimism, or anger that fuels social action?  Maybe it’s all three.

My inspiration comes from many brave women who are Meso Warriors. Women like Debbie, Mavis, Janelle, Lou, and Heather. Throughout their illnesses, when others would have taken to their beds, these women fight for a better world — a world free from lethal asbestos.

The face of mesothelioma is changing. Young women are now being diagnosed. These are the women who as little girls hugged their dads who came home from work with lethal asbestos on their clothes. They are wives who washed their husbands’ laundry and breathed in the deadly fibers. They are women whose homes were near asbestos factories. And then, there are the women like myself who have lost loved ones to asbestos disease. All of these women make up a big part of our Share Your Story group.  Read the entire collection of Share Your Stories and click here to share your story.

In unity,

Linda

Linda Reinstein’s Social Networks

ADAO’s Social Networks

“10 Year Survivor” – Bonnie’s Story
“A Heart of God” – Elizabeth’s Story
“Four Generations” – Laura’s Story
“Full of Impotent Rage” – Jo’s Story
“I Thought I Was Going to Die” – Polly’s Story
“I Will Never Be the Same Again” – Janelle’s Story
“I Will Not Die in Vain” – Louise’s Story
“Images of the Asbestos Ghost” – Jan’s Story
“Mesothelioma and Me” – Debbie’s Story
“My Life Battling Mesothelioma” – Jan’s Story 
“My Life Has Changed 100%” – Janine’s Story
“Social Media and Mesothelioma” – Mavis’ Story
“The Power of Public Health Advocacy: A Patient’s Perspective” – Julie’s Story
“The Value of My Life in Dollars and Tears” – Heather’s Story
“Trying to Make a Living” – Rebecca’s Story
“Unsuspecting Heroine” – Doreen’s Story
“With Love Comes Hope” – Lonna’s Story
“Women and Mesothelioma” – Anita’s Story