Peritoneal Mesothelioma

A patient of mine has peritoneal mesothelioma, a very nasty cancer which has metastasized from his lungs to his peritoneum. A good thing this is not--metastasis is always a bad sign, and his cancer has spread all through his abdominal cavity. I feel badly for him, as he worked as a plumber and was frequently showered with asbestos in the commercial buildings he was contracted to work in. His prognosis is poor, and he is gradually coming to terms with this. He informed me that he was speaking with a lawyer specializing in mesothelioma--I had no idea there were lawyers who had entire practices based upon this disease, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, since it would tend to fall under the category of personal injury law. At any rate, this poor man has worked hard all his life, and now is faced with what is essentially a death sentence, at least the the degree of peritoneal involvement he has. I've watched him go through the various stages of denial, grief, and anger, and he is now working his way towards acceptance. He is now planning a last vacation and wishes to take his family to Australia, so they can see Ayer's rock while he is healthy enough to make the journey. More power to him--if he can't beat this, at least he's making the most of the time he has left and taking the trip of a lifetime with his family--making memories to treasure. If I'm feeling whiney and want to kvetch, all I have to do is look to his example--in the face of much larger problems than I have, he's not complaining, but instead is living life to the fullest extent he is able. Perhaps we should stop and count our blessings instead of fussing about relatively minor things...