Roger Worthington, P.C.

When I was a sophomore in high school, my algebra class was in a tiny room.  They had moved us there while temporarily closing down the math wing to remove asbestos from the building materials.  We joked that math had been killing us all along, but had no real concept of the slow poisoning we’d been exposed to.  That was many years ago, but most of the public is still unaware of the dangers of asbestos.  How can we spread the word?

Everybody likes to breathe freely, right?  There is a ban on cigarette smoking in public places that is sweeping the nation, mostly because nobody wants to get cancer or suffer respiratory problems because of what another person chooses to do with their body.  The people who support these public smoking bans would be interested to learn about asbestos.  They will not want to expose themselves to the risk of cancer because of what a business chooses to do with their building materials.  Therefore, a campaign to spread the word about asbestos could be similar to the campaign to ban public cigarette smoking.

Another way to spread the word about asbestos would be to reach out to cancer research organizations.  Everybody knows a lot about the threat of breast cancer, for example, and about fundraising efforts like Walk for the Cure.  One of the main dangers of asbestos is that is can cause mesothelioma, a respiratory cancer.  Cancer research organizations could do a better job of highlighting mesothelioma and its relationship to asbestos.

A final way to educate about the dangers of asbestos would be to give information directly to the people most involved with it.  Construction workers and building maintenance people are most as risk because they are exposed to asbestos on the job every day.  These kinds of workers often have very strong unions, and the unions should use their network of connections to increase awareness among their members so they can protect themselves better.

However we spread the word about the dangers of asbestos, the point is that we have to do so.  Many people die every year from asbestos-related illness–because we all face exposure to this hazardous material, we all have a responsibility promote education about it.

If I could ban asbestos, I would do it in a second.  People with extensive occupational exposure to the mining, manufacturing, handling or removal of asbestos are at risk of developing asbestosis.  Asbestosis is a scarring of the tissues of the lungs which causes a reduction in lung capacity.  There is also an increased risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma.  Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer involving the lining of the lungs, chest, or abdomen.  This disease is always associated with asbestos exposure.  Asbestos could be in homes.  Asbestos could be found on roofing materials, flooring materials, ceiling materials, and other materials, too.  I can’t imagine having a close family member or friend who got a disease from an exposure to asbestos.  If I was the friend or family member of a person with a disease caused by asbestos, I would feel depressed to see them show a shortness of breath on exertion.  In a severe case, it could even lead to respiratory failure.  All of that would slowly lead to death from asbestos.  If asbestos were banned, there wouldn’t be nearly as many deaths of this cause.  10,000 people die a year from asbestos-caused diseases in the United States.  Asbestos is still a hazard for 1.3 million American workers in the construction industry and for workers involved in the maintenance of buildings and equipment.  The part about the construction industry scares me the most.  My favorite uncle works in the construction industry and has been for more than 20 years.  He is one of the greatest people that I have met.  He has been like a second father to me.  He likes to do every outdoor activity with me, from hunting to fishing to just enjoying the wild.  If he died because of asbestos, it would become my worst enemy.  I would want to ban asbestos every way I could.  I can’t imagine how strongly friends and family members of asbestos victims must feel about banning asbestos.  I imagine that they want to do everything they could to get rid of it so that no one else will have to experience the same pain.  Since the mid 1900’s, many studies have shown the effects of  and health risks associated with exposure to asbestos.  If we banned asbestos today, all the record deaths would start going down and many lives would be saved from these health issues.

My name is Jordan Cortina, and I am 16 years old; when I was 9 years old, I lost someone who was very close to me. You could call this person my hero. I lost my grandpa because he had stomach cancer. Because of the fact that I was 9, I didn’t understand why the doctors couldn’t help him. I prayed, but he eventually passed away and I never felt the same. I thought that anyone who had cancer, especially someone I knew, was going to fade away and leave me. Moving to a brighter subject, now I am 16 years old and I have never seen my uncle happier. He is with a wonderful woman who seems to get along with everyone, only, she has cancer. Now, as I have said, I was only 9 years old before and didn’t understand how medicine and technology worked, but now I do. My aunt has been treated and no longer has cancer, which shows that there is hope for people that have cancer. This really helped me feel better and learn to accept the fact that people are going to get cancer, but there is hope, because we can treat it. What’s more, she lost all her hair (she has to wear a wig) and she is still the bright, peppy, upright woman that she always is. This shows that there is hope for all the women and men out there who have gone through treatment and are self conscious. It shows that they are not alone and that they are always supported, even if only by the thought of someone else understanding how they feel. I guess what I’m trying to say is, there is always hope, whether that hope comes from a better understanding of something, or something inside of yourself, or someone who makes you happy, or someone who understands how you feel. Whatever the situation may be, there is always hope. You can’t have cancer beat you, you have to beat cancer.

Two of the greatest persons I’ve ever known succumbed to the ravages of cancer nearly seven years apart. One was my Aunt Roe. The other was my mother-in-law Sharon. Their battles with pancreatic and intestinal cancer and their deaths were two very sad affairs. They were two very special people taken before their time. But in the ironies of life, their defeats to the invading cancerous cells have not defeated me but have changed my life and inspired in me a deep desire to plant life and hope in others.

My aunt was the type who sent thank-you cards for thank-you cards. Her entire life was one dedicated to compassion, service, and love. For forty years, she was a teacher in the Chicago public schools, her working to make partially seeing and blind students’ lives better. I have a plaque I inherited from her on my office wall: “Ms. Welsch, Your devoted guidance will be an inspiration always.”

It has been for me. For over twenty years now, I have worked as a teacher in an inner city Chicago H.S., endeavoring to reach those blind to hope and lame in poverty and educational opportunity. Her words have inspired me in the darkest of days–touch a life. Love the children.

My mother-in-law, Sharon, inspired me in a different way. As I wrote to her once, she was a Mozart in the kitchen, creating a symphony of the most incredible dishes I’ve ever tasted. They came from that kitchen out of a warmth of hospitality and simple grace. She accepted you for who you were. All her sons-in-laws were her sons. There were no favorites. A child of generations of northeast Iowa farmers, she had natural sense rooted in the soil of how things grow and a wonder of the natural world. She taught inner city kids how to grow tomatoes and coached a multitude of others how to grow tiger lilies. One of the last things she did before she took to her bed and died was to gather enough strength to walk to her dining window and look at a family of cranes landing majestically on the lake outside that window. She smiled.

Now, my drive is to put a smile on the faces of others, particularly those battling cancer and in memory of those who lost their battles to the disease. This year, I will run as a charity runner for The American Cancer Society in the Palos, IL 1/2 Marathon. My aunt and mother-in-law loved flowers. One, like her name, loved roses, the other the beauty of wild flowers, which she nurtured and taught others about as The Lake County Extension Expert. As I run, I will think of how cancer changed me. I’ll see the May flowers in bloom. I will remember these two special people and try to inculcate in others hope, love, compassion, hospitality, and the pure wonder at life.

Mark J. Kinsella