Note: Names have been changed to retain the anonymity of the entities/individual.
Valerie Rodriguez, a loving wife, caring mother and an adoring grandmother, developed mesothelioma and died at the age of 59. She’d always been a healthy, active and a cheerful person. When the news of her having pleural mesothelioma came as a shocking discovery, Valerie did not lose hope and regained her spirit with the help of her family.
It all began in the summer of 1998, when spending time with her two grand-children Valerie started to feel excruciating pain on the right side of her chest. Initially, she considered the pain to be a heart-attack and was rushed to the hospital. Upon doctor’s examination, there was no indication of a heart attack. The doctors at Metropolitan Hospital Center, New York, ran some x-ray tests on Valerie that showed accumulation of liquid at the base of her right lung, also known as pleurisy.
On 21st July, 1998, Valerie was declared to have a viral condition and had the fluid removed from her right lung. Even after the liquid was removed, Valerie suffered great discomfort and pain. On August 5, 1998, a lung biopsy was conducted that diagnosed the shocking and terrible disease of mesothelioma, an incurable cancer. Much to her surprise, Valerie had never smoked a cigarette nor any of her family members smoked or drank. The doctors gave Valerie a rough estimation about her decreased lifespan of 6 – 10 months. Valerie and her family were struck with more pain and sadness. When informed about the asbestos as the real cause of her problem, Valerie remembered her youthful days in her hometown in New Mexico.
Valerie lived with her father and brother in Hobbs, New Mexico, before moving to New York with her husband. Valerie’s mother died giving birth to her brother, Justin, when she was just 5 years old. Both, Valerie and her brother, were raised by their grandmother while their father worked in the nearby oil fields as a boilermaker. Unable to make both ends meet, Valerie had to stay at home doing chores rather than attending school. Valerie still remembered those days when she had to wash her father’s clothes with her own hands.
Unaware of the white substance that her father used to bring on his clothes, Valerie was exposed to harmful asbestos almost everyday that later caused mesothelioma. Her father passed away developing severe cough and pain when Valerie was 24, though his diagnosis for mesothelioma was never confirmed.
As part of their ongoing struggle towards finding a cure, Valerie and her husband, Wilbur Johnson, began investigating and researching about the disease and started consulting with almost every doctor in the US. Additionally, as an act of desperation, Valerie underwent several treatments ranging from painful and ineffective chemotherapies to adopting special diet programs. But none of the remedies were successful. Slowly and gradually, Valerie’s condition deteriorated and she became lethargic and disheartened.
Finally, they met with Dr. Eric Peterson of the New York University Medical Center who suggested pneumonectomy as their final option. Dr. Peterson informed the Johnsons about Valerie’s survival chances. He said that even if the surgery was successful, there was no guarantee that Valerie would be cured from mesothelioma; it could only give Valerie some more time to live. Hoping and praying for the best, Valerie decided to undergo the pneumonectomy.
On 15th September 1998, a pneumonectomy was performed on Valerie in which her right lung was surgically removed. After the surgery, Valerie developed some complications with her only left lung which led her into a coma. 48 hours later, on 17th September 1998, Valerie passed away.
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