Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that affects the linings of the body cavity. It can take anywhere from 20 to 50 years before symptoms of mesothelioma present themselves but when they do, the patient often has less than a year to live. Asbestos is the only known cause for this disease and there is no known cure. If you have been diagnosed with any of the many forms of mesothelioma you will want to take action on a number of fronts. Initially, you may be too overwhelmed to think about what actions need to be taken but once your world clears a bit you will be able to plan for your medical and legal that are affected by the diagnosis. Action on the Medical Front You need to become an active participant in the medical process. You should try to understand the disease, how you got it and how it is treated as best you can on your own. Then you should have a good, long talk with your personal physician about how to go about treating the disease and what options you have given your prognosis. Your doctor will likely refer you to an oncologist (a cancer specialist) who can give you insight into the disease and the treatments available, traditional and experimental. The motivation for medical action is trying to not just survive, but to live well after diagnosis. You want to have a decent quality of life that includes medical and psychological treatment. Action on the Legal Front On the legal end of things you need to handle the filing of lawsuits as soon as you have a confirmed diagnosis of mesothelioma. You will have to get your medical paperwork together as well as paperwork that supports your claim to exposure due to negligence. In many cases the companies that processed and worked with asbestos were aware of the hazards to the health of the people employed in the factories and mines. It was a conscious choice to ignore the risks, not provide protection and cover up the hazards involved from the public. People have had settlements ranging from the hundreds of thousands to the hundreds of millions of dollars and have had their entire medical cost covered by the former employer. There is a statute of limitations for filing lawsuits for mesothelioma. In cases of confirmed diagnosis you have to file within a year and a half, and in cases of death that is confirmed to have been due to mesothelioma the family has less than a year to file. The motivations for legal action are the payment of medical expenses and compensation for pain, suffering and death.
