Connie's Kitchen: The Younger Face of Mesothelioma by Heather Von St. James

I was contacted by Heather Von St. James, a blogger as well but more importantly a courageous cancer survivor and mother, about sharing her story on my blog to raise awareness for Mesothelioma. I would like to dedicate today's "Connie's Kitchen" post to her and share a guest blog written by her. My sweet beautiful mother died on March 23rd 2011 when she lost her battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with a stage 4 glioblastoma (malignant primary brain tumor) and was gone from this world exactly 1 week later. There were signs leading up to her diagnosis but they were confused by the fact that she had Multiple Sclerosis and the fact that we had no clue what signs and symptoms to look for. Brain tumor was not part of our vocabulary. Early detection is the key with any form of cancer and knowing what to look for can save your life. Heather battled a different form of cancer than my mother but it was that terrible disease all the same. She contacted me in the hope that sharing her story could raise awareness and save lives. I hope we both can help someone out there by sharing these stories...Heather's is below and if you want to check out her blog please go to: http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather/

The Younger Face of Mesothelioma

You have cancer . . .

That one statement is enough to horrify you deeply. I heard these words at what was supposed to be my life's shining time. I had a 3 1/2 month old daughter, and I was being told that I had malignant pleural mesothelioma -- it was caused by asbestos exposure.

Most people wonder how I got cancer from asbestos. Wasn't that banned? Then, they want to know where I came across asbestos. Firstly, no. It was not. Secondly, I got it from breathing in the particles on my father's clothing. His construction job put him in contact with asbestos regularly. He brought little bits of it home with him on his work clothes and I would often wear his jacket outside to feed our rabbits.

I was diagnosed at age 36 and learned that the Mayo clinic only knew of one other instance of a person as young as myself being diagnosed with malignant plural mesothelioma. It has a tendency to occur in older males who have worked around asbestos. Their wives often got it too, from cleaning their husbands clothes. There were also women who worked in buildings with asbestos. The next wave of mesothelioma patients included people like me. People who went to school in buildings with asbestos were getting sick. People who were the children of the male workers who handled asbestos were being diagnosed with cancer. People who had decided to play with insulation as children were learning that it made them ill. These children are now grown and are the newer, younger face of mesothelioma.

As I have spent more time with people like me, I am meeting other individuals who are in their 20's and 30's and are fighting for their lives. Many of these people are starting marriages, having babies, starting careers and their lives are taken over by mesothelioma and its treatments. Thankfully, the treatments are getting better and patients young and old are beating this cancer.

Of course, learning you have cancer is earth shattering. Nonetheless, I am hopeful, as are a great deal of other mesothelioma sufferers. We are a community of people who share our stories, help lift each other up, grieve together when treatment is not helping and celebrate together when it is.

Through all of this, why do I do this? Why do I get my tale of cancer out there? I do it so people will be aware of what is happening. If no one knows, how will things get any better? If I can show someone who has just been diagnosed that it is possible to be a survivor or alleviate someone's fear, than I have done what I aimed to do.