Author: Danial Added: August 24, 2007
The most disturbing factor in the detection of Mesothelioma is its latent nature. The incubation period is very long, and it can take from twenty to forty years to come to actually show its symptoms. Therefore, when a patient is diagnosed with this disease, he is usually taken by surprise to learn he has developed the fatal disease after so many years of initial exposure to asbestos. The following story relates to one such incident.
Warren Zevon was born in Chicago to a Russian Jewish father and a Mormon mother. He was raised in Alabama and Los Angeles where he learnt piano in his childhood, going on to release 10 albums to mark his name in the music industry.
Zevon was a more than just a singer and songwriter. He was a complete musician who worked with renowned celebrities like Browne, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, and other well-known rock musicians. While working on his album titled “the Wind”, Zevon experienced some pain in his chest. When he came into the hospital, we performed some usual tests and scans. The X-rays revealed some disturbing facts. His lungs were heavily scarred and had some tumor growths around them. After further tests, Zevon was diagnosed with malignant pleural Mesothelioma. Zevon and his entire family were in a state of absolute shock! They could not establish a relation since he had no idea when he ever came across asbestos.
Then he recalled that he had worked a summer job once in 1960 in an insulation plant in Alabama to save money for school. The insulation was made from vermiculite, a naturally occurring mineral that has traces of asbestos. Zevon hauled tons of vermiculite from rails to ovens where the air was filled with asbestos. Even though the dangers of asbestos were well known at that time, the company did not deploy any safely measures such as respiratory masks for its workers. That was where he had been exposed to asbestos fibers floating in the air. He was diagnosed 40 years later. Mesothelioma was lying dormant in his system for four decades!
Malignant Mesothelioma is the most serious of a number of diseases caused by asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma presents as one of three distinct types:
Mesothelioma has thus far proven to be incurable asbestos disease, typically causing death within two years of diagnosis. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that principally affects the external lining of the lungs (pleura) and lower digestive tract (peritoneum). It has a strong association with exposure to asbestos dust, and the long latency period between first exposure to asbestos and the development and diagnosis of Mesothelioma is seldom less than 15 years and can be as long as 60 years. This means that current and predicted death figures reflect exposure many years ago.
Zevon was a brave man, he never showed the miseries of his illness on his face. His friends and family watched him as his condition deteriorated rapidly with the fatal illness. He even had to have his right lung removed. However, Zevon then decided that instead of going for therapies to try and prolong the tumor growth, he spent his last days dedicated to his family and completing his album. Zevon was urged by some of his friends to file a lawsuit against the factory in which he was exposed to asbestos. However, that factory had been shut down a long time ago. Zevon died only five days before the grand release of his album at the age of 56.
“The Wind” hit the charts near the end of august. The roster of guest musicians highlighted the depths of influence and friendships Zevon had. It included famous rockers like Don Henley and Tom Petty to even the country stars like Emmylou Harris, Ry Cooder and Dwight Yoakam.
Zevon’s tragic story is just one of the thousands of victims and families whose lives have been completely shattered by asbestos. The government claimed to have tried to pass some acts and bills that might cater to the miseries of the victims. However, the most prominent act up to date, the FAIR act, actually helps the businesses who have exposed their employees to asbestos, instead of helping the victims. The cases usually take a long time for the verdict, and time is the one thing the patients of Mesothelioma are short of.
Warren Zevon was not only a wonderfully talented singer, bandleader and songwriter, but a great person. Although he is not here with us today, his legacy will live on in many ways.
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