Note: Names have been changed to retain the anonymity of the entities/individual.
The Greens were a perfect all-American family living in the suburban town of Littleton, Colorado. They had a happy life with a lush green lawn, on which their dog named Fizzy often rested, in front of their French colonial house with a SUV standing on the driveway. Mr. Jefferson Green was a carpenter and owned a small woodworks company named Green Wood Products. His wife, Miranda Green, was a grade 6 teacher at Columbine High School where their two daughters, Linda and Lisa, also studied. Much to their satisfaction, they had no complains about life. Additionally, Mr. Green’s business was booming with big orders coming from Los Angeles, Boston and New York. But behind this blessed living, a dark and vicious reality was about to happen that they could never have imagined.
On 23rd March, 2003, while coming from one of his late night shifts at work, Jeff experienced stomach bloating and abdominal discomfort. He neglected his uneasiness thinking it of as workload anxiety and took Simethicone for gas relief, which resulted mild improvement. When the symptoms returned, Jeff admitted having some serious problem, but instead controlled his diet rather than seeing a doctor to gain alleviation.
By April 12, 2003, Jeff’s situation was being noticed by others too as his abdominal swelling progressed and his discomfort increased. His swelling was on both the left and right sides in the upper and middle portions of the abdomen. Despite that, there was a significant loss in Jeff’s weight with sleeping disorders.
On April 14, 2003, Jeff was taken to Littleton Adventist Hospital, Colorado, where he was referred to a surgeon, Dr. Nancy Hall. Dr. Hall took an abdominal CT scan of Jeff’s that revealed the presence of subdiaphragmatic liquid abscess in both sections of his stomach with some thickening of the omentum. A colonoscopy, done on the same day, confirmed no sign of tumor or abnormalities.
When Dr. Hall was unable to diagnose Jeff’s symptoms, she recommended a laparoscopy for him. Dr. Hall performed the surgery on April 25, 2003 and found fluid throughout his abdominal cavity. Dr. Hall also observed growth of peritoneum in the lower section of Jeff’s stomach.
This was an indication of Jeff suffering from a serious form of cancer – mesothelioma. During the procedure, Dr. Hall had a quick discussion with Jeff’s family and explained: “the peritoneum is a thin membrane that encompasses most abdominal organs and lines the abdominal and pelvic cavities. Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that affects the peritoneum and other tissues. Seeing the appearance of Jeff’s nodules, there is a possibility of Jeff having mesothelioma”, and then she disappeared behind the closed doors of the operation room.
Dr. Hall surgically removed two of Jeff’s peritoneal nodules and sent them to the laboratory for pathology. The pathology results reported the presence of malignant tumor. Thus, further samples of his peritoneal implants and nodules from his omentum were sent to lab to confirm the diagnosis.
Three days later, on April 29, 2003, lab reports confirmed the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma based on immunohistochemical staining.
Shocked and unaware of the newly developed mesothelioma, Jeff went to get help from the University of Colorado Cancer Center. There, Jeff was recommended to enroll in one of their Phase I Clinical trails. As part of the trail’s preparation for the study, Jeff underwent several tests, including CT scans, X-rays and blood tests. The reports declared asbestos as the main cause of Jeff’s cancer, which he remembered coming in contact with everyday at work as a carpenter. The results also showed a decline of the toxin in the Anti-Mesothelin, which helps in killing the cancer cells, by the antibodies. The doctors at University of Colorado Cancer Center told the Greens that any treatment on Jeff would increase the chance of his body to produce more antibodies that would destroy the entire toxin. Thus, on 2nd March 2003, Jeff was dropped from the clinical trails and was set up with a chemotherapy program.
On March 5, Jeff underwent his first chemotherapy treatment. For him, the treatment turned out to be brutal as he had to receive three chemo treatments with Cisplatin and ALIMTA. Jeff’s body was now completely worn out with the cruel effects of the drugs. His hair was thinning; his body was evaporating; he moved slowly: less cogently but persistently and often could not sit up.
A CT scan taken on April 1 showed that Jeff’s cancer had not contracted. The doctors at UCCC increased Jeff’s dose to six chemo treatments at alternative weeks. They assured the Greens that after two months of chemotherapy there should be some improvement(s). They also asked Jeff to go through another laparoscopy after the treatment to confirm the reduction in tumor.
Two months later, a laparoscopy was done on Jeff at UCH that confirmed the reduction of tumor by more than 40%. But since Jeff no longer could endure the Cisplatin, the doctors decided to put him on ALIMTA only.
Unfortunately, a CT scan taken a month later revealed that Jeff’s tumor had increased again and some new tumors were also found at other areas of his body. The doctors stopped the chemotherapy treatments as it was of no use and informed Jeff about the little time he had left. Sadly, Jefferson Green passed away on 28th February, 2004. |
