November 5, 2013
Asbestos is an Ongoing Threat Hello- my name is Cameron Von St. James and I would like to share the story of my wife with you. Her name Heather and she is a
mesothelioma survivor of nearly 8 years.
She was diagnosed with this awful disease just three and a half months after the birth of our only child Lily. Heather was fortunate enough to receive treatment and a surgery called Extrapleural Pneumonectomy (which called for the removal of her entire left lung), which helped to save her life. But just like many other rare diseases, there is still no cure.
The reason we are trying to raise awareness is because this is a cancer that is 100% preventable. It is caused by exposure to asbestos, which was still used in many applications even after they discovered the deadly affects. Many American workers, across a variety of industries, were exposed to asbestos on the job. As a result, they are now at risk to develop mesothelioma. Asbestos has been banned in over 60 countries around the world, but still not in the U.S.
We have worked with the help of the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance to try and shed some light on this issue but many people still don't know what mesothelioma is or if they are at risk. There was a bill to ban asbestos that was passed by the Senate back in 2007, which still had yet to pass the House of Representatives. Maybe if more people were aware this would be a more urgent issue.
Every year around 3000 people are diagnosed with this disease and on average they are only given a prognosis of 10 months to live. Asbestos exposure is the number one cause of occupational cancer in the U.S. Asbestos can still be found in homes, office buildings, and even schools. No amount of exposure is safe.
People should be aware of the dangers of asbestos and mesothelioma and Heather and I, with the help of others, want to use our story as a vehicle for awareness.
Please check out the video and visit Heater's website here to learn more!
Click here
