Lacey's Story
--------------------------------

Lacey with her mother Janet
----------------------
Deidre, you said you'd like to have Lacey's' story.
Going back through her meso battle,
especially in depth,
is not something Lacey
usually wants to do.
Also, as a small business owner, wife, mother
to 2 young children she has very little free time.
I can tell you my story as her caregiver.

----------------------
Lacey is the youngest of our 2 children,
both girls, 5 years apart in age.
In late July, at the age of 23
Lacey married Justin.
[In the interest of privacy
I'm leaving out last names.]
Lacey's daughter, Jade was 3,
Justin's son, Solomon was 5.

----------------------------
In late August, Lacey complained of
back pain and constipation.
She made numerous trips
to our family doctor,
to the urgent care facility
closest to their home.
She managed to keep working
at her waitress job.
Over the next 3 months
the pain got worse,
the constipation become unrelieved.
We were all increasingly worried.

-----------------------
Finally our doctor took an x-ray.
There was so much fluid in the abdomen
she couldn't see anything
She told Lacey she wanted to
admit her to the hospital
and was calling in a surgeon
to do a laparoscopy.
In layman's terms, exploratory surgery

-------------------------
After waiting a few days, I can't remember how many,
our doctor finally told Lacey she had her diagnosis.
Lacey was still in the hospital.
Solomon had a school event that evening.
Lacey asked me to come be there when the
doctor came so that Justin could be at Solomon's school.
We were almost as much friends with,
as patients of, our young family practice doctor.
We used her first name, Mattie.
The moment Mattie entered Lacey's room
we knew we were in trouble.

-------------------------
Here's where my story differs greatly from yours Deidre.
Mattie admitted this
awful disease called
peritoneal mesothelioma was usually fatal.
She also frankly stated that
she had no idea what,
if any treatment was available.
She told us she and the
young surgeon were
rapidly searching for where
the best place to send Lacey would be.
They felt that somewhere was a doctor,
a facility,
that had the needed expertise.
She was blunt, and practical,
demanding we call Justin immediately and
begin getting all sorts of
paper work in order.
She intended to send Lacey to where ever
they found somewhere as soon as possible!

------------------------
This is where hope, and faith
became a huge part of the story.
As soon as Justin arrived I
went to the hospital chapel.
I have to admit,
my prayers were angry.
How could God do this?
How could he take away
my youngest child?
I didn't find any comfort and
went back to Lacey's room.
They'd moved her to a private room,
some of the nurses were there, sympathizing.
Lacey sat Indian style in
the middle of the bed.
I heard her tell this small group,
"if no one has ever survived
this cancer, then you're
looking at a first"

-------------------------------
I went back to the chapel.
This time my prayers weren't angry.
I prayed for God's compassion,
for our Granddaughter Jade,
not to lose her Mommy.
I prayed for their young family,
having only just begun as a family,
not be torn apart by this disease.
Then, I prayed for the
courage, and strength to
endure what ever I'd need to
in order to help them.
This time I left that chapel with a
sense of peace that's hard to describe.
I just knew that Lacey,
that all of us, would survive this.

---------------------
As I approached Lacey's hospital
room again I found Mattie,
our doctor, standing in the hall,
trying not to cry.
I walked up to her, smiled, gave her a hug,
and said "God and I have just reached an understanding."
" I don't know how hard it will be
but I know she's going to survive".
I still have no real way
to explain that certainty.
All I know is that it filled me,
it made me even smile!
I think the family and others thought I'd
gone straight into denial
about Lacey's condition.
All I could do was tell
them to pray and maybe
they'd be lucky enough to get the same answer.
Lacey hugged me back and
said she knew I was right.

--------------------
Mattie came to tell us the surgeon knew
an oncologist at St. Louis University Hospital,
in St. Louis, Mo. that she trusted.
They felt the hospital's affiliation with a
university would be the needed
connection to find treatment
if it was out there.
We were just happy they'd decided
on some place only 100 miles from home.
The next day preparations went high gear.
They wanted Justin to get Lacey to
that hospital before the end of the day.
I doubt any of us knew this was
the beginning of a journey that would change us all!
I'll try not to take to long to get more written.
I'm actually ending this portion the way
I probably should have begun it.
Lacey has been NED, no evidence of
disease, for 3 years, 6 months!

-------------------------------
Lacey was admitted to St. Louis University Hospital
under the care of an excellent oncology team.
A team who still had no real answers for us
our frustration levels,
fear rapidly increased.
I learned that the oldest doctor of the team
had seen one mesothelioma patient,
years before.
We kept pushing for answers, a plan.
I had friends in nursing searching the internet
their contacts for a specialist
or any treatment.
I kept saying "I know she'll beat this,
but not if you keep doing nothing!"
The nurses began to talk to me quietly
about how I should begin to accept my daughters condition!
I remember becoming so angry
that I simply turned walked away mid conversation.
I was afraid I'd slap this woman
who only wanted to help me.
I walked around until my temper cooled then went to find that nurse.
I explained that acceptance would come
after we had a plan for treatment
but that I flatly refused to accept that
survival wasn't possible when treatment
was not even being offered yet!

---------------------------
This is a time that's blurred.
I don't remember the amount of days
Lacey was in this hospital or just what day
the head of this team said he had a colleague
in a “sister” hospital he wanted Lacey to see.
I remember meeting Dr. Thomas Buekers though.
A young, very soft spoken gynocologist / oncologist.
At the same time a nurse friend said that a Dr. Sugarbaker,
on the East coast had successful treatment
for peritoneal mesothelioma.
She said Sugarbaker was considered
the top man in this field.

----------------------------
As soon as Dr. Buekers began to talk to Lacey
she liked him, we all did.
He exuded a quiet confidence
I found remarkable in a young doctor.
He also treated Lacey
and all of us with respect, empathy.
It was clear that his patients
their families were people to him,
Not charts or the means to increase his income.
Then, he told us he was familiar
with Sugarbaker's surgical technique
method of treatment
and felt it would work well for Lacey.
I think Lacey knew right away
that this would be her doctor but,
we chose to discuss it as a family.
Since Lacey really did not want to go
hundreds of miles away
for who knew how long for surgery, treatment.
We all liked Dr. Buekers it was an easy decision.


------------------------------
Lacey was transferred to St. Mary's Health Center,
about 6 blocks away.
Dr. Buekers ran his own tests
took scans.
Once he had the results he explained the surgery,
which would be drastic.
He said a heated chemo wash
would be put into her abdomen
immediately after the surgery,
before he closed her up.
Surgery would be followed by
both conventional IV administered chemo
through a port he'd place in her abdomen
as an abdominal wash.
He explained that her surgery would require
a complete hysterectomy which would bring its own set of issues,
hormone loss, etc.
Bluntly, she'd come out of surgery in instant menopause.
That was not an issue that worried
Lacey at all at the time.
Dr. Buekers plan was agreed to
and surgery was scheduled.

---------------------------------
The surgery took hours,
I can't remember how many.
The surgeon finally came out
gave us the miracle we wanted!
The surgery had gone better than expected.
He'd been able to remove a little over
ninety percent of the visible cancer!!
He'd done the hysterectomy,
scraped away part of the abdominal lining,
took part of the omentum and her appendix.
I think he left her gall bladder.
The severe constipation issue had been answered.
A large mass of the cancer had formed around her bowel,
literally pinching it closed!

--------------------------
Amazingly he was able to remove
all but two or three spots,
equalling no more than the size of a dime he said,
with no need for the colostomy
he feared might be necessary.
We all knew this would be among the best news
for Lacey as she had really feared the colostomy.

----------------------------
This was my first real experience
with no longer being my child's
primary caregiver, next of kin.
It hit me when Dr. Buekers took Justin,
Lacey's husband, back to an office to discuss details
give him a peek at Lacey in recovery!
It was very hard to be left in that waiting room!
When Justin returned we learned the
heated chemo had not been administered.
Lacey, never very big, was
weighing less than 100 pounds.
Dr. Buekers felt that leaving her sedated longer
adding the trauma to her system
of the chemo was too great a risk,
that she wasn't strong enough.

-------------------------
By this time Christmas was rapidly approaching.
There were two very young,
frightened children to consider.
Even though the adults would have gladly
just skipped all the trapping, gifts, etc.,
Jade and Solomon needed them.
Something, about their lives needed
to return to as near normal as possible!
With a lot of help from Jamie,
Lacey's hospital room was all decked out for the holiday.
Gifts were bought
arrangements were made for Justin
both kids to spend Christmas eve day at the hospital

--------------------------
I can't tell you much about the holiday season of 2005.
Family and friends tell me I made all the right moves,
said all the right things.
That I helped make it the best Christmas
it could be for my Grandkids.
I'll take their word for it!
The whole time period is a blur of trips
back and forth to St. Louis.
Justin's company had transferred him,
so, he'd had to find a house and move, alone.
Solomon's mother had primary custody
so that was a blessing then!
Jade was here with us most of the time.
My husband was retired totally disabled.
He's had two different heart bypass surgeries.
By this time the stress was getting to him.
I remember just trying to keep him as separate
from the most stressful things as possible.
Try doing that with an active 3 year old in the house!!

-----------------------------------
One episode during this time needs to be told.
It illustrates that not all doctors are the
sort you want around during critical times
that you can say,
"I refuse to be seen by this doctor"
Either shortly before, or after Christmas
Jamie was in the hall outside Lacey's room, with Jade.
The head of the team of doctors Dr. Buekers
worked with stopped to talk to Jamie.
This man was also head of the oncology dept.
at this hospital.
He told Jamie that we all,
but especially me,
were looking at the world through rose colored glasses.
He said we were giving his patient
a false outlook on her condition

------------------------------
We should accept the reality that this cancer is fatal
be preparing her to also accept that.
He said all this right in front
of said patients three year old daughter!
Jamie was very upset,
mostly because she was so angry.
As soon as she could
put Jade in someone's care
and get Justin alone,
she told Justin what this doctor had done.
Justin went straight to the head nurse
gave orders that that doctor was never
to come near his wife or family again.
He left word for Dr. Buekers to see him
as soon as possible because he wanted that doctor
removed from the case entirely.
His directives were followed
we never had to deal with that doctor again.
Lacey didn't know about any of this for a long time.
Jade never really comprehended
that the doctor was telling
Aunt Jamie that Lacey would die!
If Jade had understood that I think I would have beaten
that doctor with my bare hands!

-----------------------
The holidays came and went
Lacey was finally dismissed from the hospital.
She went to the house Justin had moved to in the new town.
They now lived about one and a
half hours to north of us.
It was obvious almost immediately
that being at home alone,
with Jade was not something
Lacey was strong enough for.
They were making trips to the
emergency room almost every other day.
Justin even tried taking toys and Jade
to work at his store with him part of the day.
Lacey was even taken back to St. Mary's
seen by Dr. Buekers.
I went to St. Louis as
Justin needed to stay at work.
He'd taken so much time off already
he feared his job was in jeopardy.
Losing his job would mean losing
their health insurance,
as well as their income.

---------------------------
Poor Jade, I can't even remember
where or who we left her with!
Good friends near by I think.
Dr. Buekers told Lacey bluntly
that being at home alone,
especially with an active child,
was out of the question.
A real danger to both Lacey and Jade.
Justin learned the insurance
would not cover home help or care.
Lacey and Jade moved back in with us.
The next part of the story is the chemo therapy
so this is a good stopping point for now.

---------------------------
All the time and events I've written about so far
were filled with wonderful support.
I have no idea how many prayer chains
were going for Lacey and  all of us.
We just know the prayers were answered.
Friends, fellow church members,
nurses from our small hospital
were frequent visitors for Lacey.
Our minister made the trip to St. Louis
at least once a week
and called her between visits.
Many offered to keep Jade so she could
just play and we could have a break.
The following few months are truly a blur,
for which I am frankly grateful.
If we thought the diagnosis and surgery
had been tough we soon
learned that we had seen nothing yet!

-----------------------------
Lacey's chemo therapy began.
The schedule was chemo every twenty one days
for a total of six infusions.
Lacey had never regained much strength
following surgery and was still to thin.
Dr. Buekers felt she could tolerate the chemo though
He also felt that it was dangerous to wait.
He really wanted to kill
the remaining cancer
while he was sure there was so little there.
I can't remember if the following events
occurred after her first or second chemo infusion.
The chemo was very hard on Lacey.
It was painful and made her extremely nauseated.
She was also still in a great deal
of pain from the cancer itself
and the surgery.
A woman who hated taking pills was
taking a pharmacy of them daily!
She was also using pain patches
heat to try to get some relief
from the constant back pain.
She was forced to live separately from her husband,
seldom saw her step son,
and when they did visit she wasn't
able to really enjoy the time.
Naturally she became very depressed.

-------------------------
We had no idea that chemo therapy can cause
and or aggravate depression,
as well as some of the meds she was on!
I hope I would've acted differently
if I'd had that information.
She became what we thought was nearly suicidal.
Finally one evening she agreed to be taken to our local hospital.
I hoped that they would contact St. Louis
get some direction from Dr. Buekers.
Lacey was sent to back to St. Mary's Hospital in St. Louis.
Terry, my husband, and I made quick arrangements for Jade
and drove her up there ourselves.
She was being admitted to the psychiatric ward!
Oh how I hated that !
But, I didn't feel it was safe for her to remain at home
I hoped Dr. Buekers would see her first thing the next day.
I was crying and terrified all the way home that night,
just praying that leaving her
there was the right thing.
We were finally able to reach Justin
and tell him what had happened.

-----------------------------
The next day we learned that very shortly after Lacey
was settled in her room a nurse went in and
found her unconscious on the floor.
After tests it was learned that her blood
pressure was critically high and climbing
and her brain was swelling.
They'd lowered her blood pressure but every time
she'd begin to regain consciousness
it would rapidly climb again.
To avoid a stroke they put her in a drug induced coma,
so deep she was on a ventilator to keep her breathing.
We called Jamie home,
left Jade with friends and sped to St. Louis.
Justin was already there.
While we were there they tried once again to let her awake.
I sat on the bed beside her and
looked into her eyes when she opened them
and lost my faith right there.
Her eyes were blank,
just blank, no, life, no light,
my Lacey just was not there!

----------------------------
I gave up! Terry, Jamie and I came home.
On the drive I was actually
discussing possible funeral arrangements.
Thank God Jaime, Justin, and
the wonderful doctors never gave up.
Really neither did Lacey
but we had no way to know that.
Dr. Buekers called in all sorts of specialists
but no one could find an answer to
why this was happening to Lacey.
Justin and Jamie stayed at the hospital.
Justin was the only person Lacey
would show any signs of response to.
I couldn't go back to see her.
I was un-consolable,
my faith and hope were gone.
I was sure it was a cruel trick.
God let me believe she'd survive,
what I hadn't seen was that this
was how she'd survive!

-----------------------------------
I turned away all offers of and efforts to pray,
wouldn't even speak to the minister.
Losing your hope is a terrible thing
and because I lost it I wasn't there
to witness the next miracle.
They kept lessening Lacey's meds,
trying to let be awake and aware.
Jamie and Justin stayed right there,
talking to her,
always believing she'd pull out
of what ever this was.
After several days she did!
Jamie called me and said "Mom,
I'm sitting here talking to your other daughter."
"Lacey's awake and is going to be fine."
Jamie held the phone for Lacey
and I heard this very scratchy, weak,
beloved voice say "I love you Mommy".
I've never cried so hard in my life
as I did with those tears of thanks.
I will always thank God for continuing
to listen to everyone else's prayers!

----------------------------------
A concrete answer to why this happened
to Lacey was never found.
The specialists could only conclude
that it was an individually serious
reaction to the chemo.
Somehow her system reacted this way to those drugs.
Some sort of minor changes
were made to the chemo drugs
and treatment continued.
She never even had a treatment skipped or delayed!
The next months were miserable!
Lacey was constantly nauseated,
 weak, in pain,
still depressed from the drugs
forced separation from her husband.
Most of her waking hours were spent in bed.
My Great Dane would carefully get up on the bed
and lay quietly beside her.

-----------------------------
Afternoons Jade would curl up beside her Mom
and they'd read a book or watch a movie.
It was difficult for Lacey to take in
enough liquids just to stay hydrated
so we concentrated those efforts
on supplements like Boost
and high calorie treats like milk shakes.
If any food sounded tolerable
to her we'd go get it or cook it.
We did get miraculous news
half way through the prescribed chemo.
We were going down the hall to the
infusion center when Dr. Buekers met and stopped us.
He said he wanted to give us her blood work results.
The mesomark blood test was not yet available.
They were using a test called a CA125
which is used for ovarian cancer,
and probably some others.
Now you'll hear some say that CA125
is not a trustworthy marker for meso.
Maybe it isn't but,
it proved accurate in this case.

------------------------------
Dr. Buekers read off a list of numbers
which left us just
standing there staring at him.
We did recognize that there were changes
in numbers we'd heard before from previous test results
but we didn't understand what this meant.
One of the nurses told me we made
a comical tableau standing there,
Dr. Buekers looking extremely happy and
Lacey and I looking totally confused.
Finally one of us, don't remember who,
asked the doctor what all these numbers meant.
His smile got HUGE and he said
'Lacey, your blood work shows no more sign of cancer, none.'
We jumped, cheered, hugged, and cried !
Lacey's immediate question was,
'does this mean I can stop these chemo treatments?'
Dr. Buekers said no, he wasn't willing to risk that
and believed she should have
the remaining 3 infusions.
That took a lot of the joy out of his news for Lacey.
Still, his news was too encouraging
for her to give up

-----------------------------
The best I can say of her remaining treatments
was that Lacey, all of us, endured them.
It was a very rough nine weeks.
After the last chemo Lacey was told that her energy,
and appetite would both gradually return.
Very slowly they did.
She was slowly weaned away from the strong anti depressant
and anxiety drugs so she was awake and alert more.
Her muscle tone was just gone.
Her hair had never been lost
but was really thinner and
no longer looked shiny and healthy.
After being under such constant care
it was scary for her to think of
resuming a normal life style.
What was normal any more?
She'd been yanked rudely away
from a brand new family life
and more or less forced to return
to being cared for by her parents!
Her self confidence was very low.

-----------------------------
She did take her life back.
Not to long after moving back into her home
with her own family they chose to move back to here.
Justin chose a different job within the company
he worked for which enabled him
to return to their store here.
This gave them more time with Solomon
and all of us more time as a family.
Lacey's strength has slowly returned
though it has never reached pre-meso levels.

-----------------------------
As soon as her chemo was complete
Dr. Buekers left St. Louis
for a different position in another state.
Lacey was seeing another doctor on that team
for her follow up exams but was not happy
with the way follow up was being done.
My continuing search for some sort of positive info
about meso had finally taken me the
Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.
Lacey checked it out and decided to contact
their nurse/practitioner.
She was referred to Dr. Taub,
a renowned meso specialist in NYC.
Lacey now flies to NYC once a year
for scans and blood tests.
All her tests remain clear,
no evidence of disease.

------------------------------
During all this surgery and treatment
we had of course learned that mesothelioma
is caused by asbestos.
Lacey was constantly advised to contact
an asbestos exposure law firm.
She kept saying that just staying alive
was taking all her energy and she
just couldn't handle the added stress of a lawsuit.
We agreed with the advice but,
honored her requests to not push the issue.
A few weeks after returning to her own home
Lacey did contact a firm.
I'm not sure where her life would be
now if not for that contact!
All the travel and medical expenses
had been devastating financially.
A couple of large fund raisers had been done for her.
Those along with regular small contributions
to the cancer fund we'd started in her name
were the only reasons the whole family
was not as yet bankrupt.

-----------------------------
The law firm's investigations determined
that Lacey's exposure to asbestos was second hand.
Her father had brought the stuff home on his clothes,
in his vehicle,
for years as an industrial electrician!
I highly recommend that any one with mesothelioma
pursue their legal rights!
Get a good firm that specializes
in asbestos exposure cases.
While life is the ultimate goal,
the blunt truth is that money
is essential to living.
The costs of a catastrophic illness
are devastating and can take away every
financial resource you have.
It's also my opinion that it's a small
but justified punishment for many companies
continued use of asbestos.
They continued to expose their workers
and the workers families to what
had been proven a deadly toxin.
If money is the only way to make them
pay for this crime then so be it!

----------------------------
I could say that life has now returned
to normal but, what is normal?
A favorite comedic author,
Erma Bombeck once said and wrote a book titled
"Normal Is Just a Setting On Your Dryer"
Life now appears normal again.
Lacey and Justin now own and operate their own business.
About a year ago they purchased their first home.
The behavior problems that Jade exhibited
from the stress of her Moms illness
are fading gradually.
I went to a therapist for a while.
I couldn't seem to find my own new normal
after the intensity of caring for Lacey
and Jade for those four or five months.
Jamie finally relaxed enough to make a move
to a place an hour further from home
that she'd wanted to make for a long time.

-----------------------------------
Lacey's new normal includes a daily
regime of pain control meds.
There is no certain cause for her chronic pain.
Dr. Taub says it's an area of meso
that needs more research
as many patients are left with this
issue in varying degrees.
She still works at regaining physical
strength and muscle tone,
to her abdomen especially.
To the outside our family appears to have survived
a devastating illness admirably.
I won't argue with that assumption at all.
I will say that unless you've experienced
a devastating illness like meso
you'll never imagine the life
altering changes that makes.
We have our own new celebration day.
Every year we celebrate the date
we received the no evidence of
disease test results.
Birthdays are extra special
because we know how quickly
you can face never seeing another one!
Every anniversary Lacey and Justin celebrate
is a testimony to their love
and commitment to overcome the very
rough start their marriage got and
the separation they were able to endure.


----------------------
Lacey's new normal includes a daily
regime of pain control meds.
There is no certain cause
for her chronic pain.
Dr. Taub says it's an area of meso
that needs more research
as many patients are left with
this issue in varying degrees.
She still works at regaining physical
strength and muscle tone,
to her abdomen especially.
To the outside our family appears to have survived
a devastating illness admirably.
I won't argue with that assumption at all.
I will say that unless you've experienced
a devastating illness like meso
you'll never imagine the life
altering changes that makes.
We have our own new celebration day.
Every year we celebrate the date
we received the no evidence of
disease test results.
Birthdays are extra special
because we know how quickly
you can face never seeing another one!
Every anniversary Lacey and Justin celebrate
is a testimony to their love
and commitment to overcome the very
rough start their marriage got and
the separation they were able to endure.

---------------------------
Lacey's new normal includes a daily
regime of pain control meds.
There is no certain cause for her chronic pain.
Dr. Taub says it's an area of meso
that needs more research
as many patients are left with this issue
in varying degrees.
She still works at regaining physical
strength and muscle tone,
to her abdomen especially.
To the outside our family appears to have survived
a devastating illness admirably.
I won't argue with that assumption at all.
I will say that unless you've experienced
a devastating illness like meso
you'll never imagine the life
altering changes that makes.
We have our own new celebration day.
Every year we celebrate the date
we received the no evidence of
disease test results.
Birthdays are extra special
because we know how quickly
you can face never seeing another one!
Every anniversary Lacey and Justin celebrate
is a testimony to their love
and commitment to overcome the very
rough start their marriage got and
the separation they were able to endure.

----------------------------
Finding MARF through dealing with meso
has enriched our lives.
It's given us a way to help others
faced with the devastating diagnosis
of mesothelioma.
We now have an extended 'meso family' many
of which have become valued friends.
We advocate for a ban of asbestos
and an awareness of its dangers
and the facts about the diseases it causes.
Through MARF we've learned of
and been able to meet some of the brilliant people
dedicating their lives to treatment.,
research, and finding a cure.
We know that if Lacey's meso ever reoccurs,
we won't be alone in the renewed battle.
We feel confident that if that awful day
does come, better treatment,
and possibly a cure, will be available.

-------------------------------
I hope that this story will benefit
the fight against meso in some way.
While our journey was difficult
it's still a story of hope, faith
and the endurance of BELIEVING.
I want that ability to hope,
to keep hope alive,
to be a testament to Lacey's endurance.
A testament to the lives lost,
but lived to the very last breathe with hope,
like that of my dear friend and mentor June Breit.
In their honors we must never give up!

-----------------------
Lacey celebrated 5 years NED
[no evidence of disease]
March 14th of this year!!!
She still has the chronic pain issues though.
With the help of a Neurologist,
Dr. Taub referred her to,
new meds are doing a better job of pain control.
Update on Lacey dated Sunday the 15th May 2011

--------------------------------

July 2013
Just a short note from Lacey's mother.
I had asked her if Lacey had ever seen
the doctor again who said
"we were looking at the world
through rose colored glasses.
Deidre, you know I don't even remember
the doctors name though Lacey might.
Lacey saw him after Dr. Buekers
left for a new position in Iowa.
When she walked into that Doctor's office
he stood and he applauded.
Then she said he came around his desk
offered his hand to shake.
He gave her a sincere apology and
asked her to apologize to all her family for him.
He said he really did not believe anyone
survived a mesothelioma diagnosis and
was very pleased to have been proven wrong.
We don't think he was a bad doctor,
just uneducated in this disease.
I'll ask Lacey if she'd like to write
any or all of her story. Janet

--------------------

On to Claudia's Story ----------------------------