Mesothelioma FAQ

1. Exactly what is meant by the term mesothelioma?

2. Are their different types of mesothelioma? What are the differences?

3. What does the word pleura mean?

4. Who is at risk for developing mesothelioma?

5. Is there a specific cause for mesothelioma? If so, what is it?

6. How can mesothelioma be prevented?

7. What actually is asbestos?

8. What kinds of symptoms might I experience from mesothelioma?

9. My doctor suspects mesothelioma. If that’s what I have, how will the doctor diagnose it?

10. Are there any blood tests that might indicate that I have mesothelioma?

11. What kinds of tests might the doctor order to see if I have mesothelioma?

12. What is a biopsy? How is it done?  What kind of biopsy should I have done?

13. Who will tell me the results of my biopsy? Can I be sure that the diagnosis of mesothelioma is correct?

14. How do you know if your doctor has experience treating mesothelioma?

15. Do I need another (second) opinion?

16. How will I find a doctor to give me a second opinion?

17. What kinds of doctors treat mesothelioma?

18. How do I know where I should receive treatment?

19. What can I do to make the most possible out of my doctor visits?

20. What can I expect at a mesothelioma treatment center?

21. Why does my cancer need to be “staged?” How is it done?

22. What are the specifics of staging? How is the information put together to find a stage?

23. Are there other staging systems?

24. In what ways can mesothelioma spread?

25. What are lymph glands, also called lymph nodes?

26. What does prognosis mean?

27. Is mesothelioma always fatal?

28. What is the outlook in my case? How long do I have to live?

29. What are some of the survival statistics for mesothelioma?

30. What do statistics tell me?

31. What is supportive care in mesothelioma?

32. What are the ways mesothelioma is treated?

33. How do the doctors decide if I am healthy enough to have surgery?

34. Are there specific tests that will be done in order to decide if I can have surgery?

35. What kind of surgery might I have for pleural mesothelioma?

36. What kind of surgery might I have for peritoneal mesothelioma?

37. What about other mesotheliomas?

38. What determines which surgical procedure I will have?

39. What will be done to prepare me for surgery? What can I do myself?

40. How will I feel after my surgery for pleural mesothelioma? How likely is it that there will there be complications?

41. What will I feel like after abdominal surgery for mesothelioma? Will I have complications?

42. What if I need chemotherapy? What does that mean, and how will it help me?

43. What will chemotherapy be like? How often will I be treated, and how many times?

44. What side effects might I experience during chemotherapy?

45. What blood tests are checked during chemotherapy, and why are they checked?

46. How can radiation be a therapy for cancer?

47. How will the course of my treatment be arranged? How many treatments will I need?

48. What equipment is used to deliver radiation?

49. What actually happens during a radiation procedure? How long does it take? Will it be painful?

50. What side effects can I expect from radiation treatment?

51. What are my most likely treatment options?

52. What is a clinical trial?

53. If I want to participate in a clinical trial, how do I find out what to do? Where is there information on clinical trials for mesothelioma?

54. Will I have a number of choices? What if I don’t qualify for the trial I want to participate in?

55. Are there new, experimental treatments being investigated to treat mesothelioma?

56. What is complementary therapy? What is alternative therapy? What is the difference? Should I consider either or both of these?

57. When faced with the decision of which treatment to choose, how will I know what to do?

58. Will I know if treatment is working? With the side effects from chemotherapy, how will I be able to tell? What if my tumor “remains stable?”

59. I am tired all the time. Why am I tired, and what can I do about it?

60. Will the fatigue ever go away (like after treatment is over)?

61. I know I feel sad, which seems normal considering the situation. How would I know if I am depressed? Can that be treated?

62. What can I do about my shortness of breath, which is really preventing me from doing a lot of things?

63. I am very worried about my pain. What if nothing can be done to help me? What if I take narcotics and get addicted?

64. Constipation is an issue, partly because of my pain medicine but also just in general. What can I do about constipation?

65. What is a deep venous thrombosis? Why is it dangerous? Could it happen to me? How can I try and prevent it?

66. I know people have horrible nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy. What can be done to help me with that?

67. Will chemotherapy make all my hair fall out? What can I do about it?

68. Will radiation therapy make all my hair fall out?

69. How do I know why I am coughing or whether I need to do something about it?

70. I have lost my appetite. What can I do?

71. Will the side effects of my treatment be permanent? Will I have more side effects later on?

72. How should I eat after being diagnosed with mesothelioma? Should I change my diet? Do I need supplements, and if so, which supplements? Is there any relationship between diet and survival in patients with mesothelioma?

73. What are the benefits of exercise for mesothelioma patients?

74. Should I return to work, and when?

75. How often will I be seeing the doctor?

76. What about vaccinations?

77. Will my insurance pay for my treatment? How much will I have to pay?

78. What about other kinds of insurance?

79. How do I get copies of my medical records?

80. What kind of help can I get in dealing with the stress, depression, and other psychological issues having to do with my diagnosis?

81. What does my family need to know?

82. If my mesothelioma comes back, where is it likely to recur?

83. How is recurrence treated?

84. What if my mesothelioma doesn’t respond to treatment?

85. Discussing Difficult Issues: Talking to your family about your wishes

86. Wills and Advance Directives

87. What other documents to I need?

88. How will I know if I should stop treatment?

89. Hospice

90. Do I have any legal rights, having been diagnosed with mesothelioma? What if I was exposed to asbestos while working?

91. How do I find a lawyer?

92. What if my mesothelioma is the result of doing my job?

93. What records does my lawyer need?

94. Can I wait and take care of this later?

95. Where can I go to get help in dealing with my own stress?

96. How can I keep in touch with everyone and try to keep the family together when things are difficult?

97. What do I do when something goes wrong in the middle of the night?

98. How can I get help with the day-to-day demands?

99. How can friends find out what to do?