When someone has a diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma, they need to make many difficult decisions regarding health care and legal matters. The person diagnosed and their family has to process a lot and figure out how to move forward in a small amount of time. It’s incredibly painful to realize a loved one has a terminal disease. That pain is heightened even more so if the disease could have been avoided. Exposure to asbestos may have caused the mesothelioma—and someone may be responsible for this exposure. If you or a loved one has developed peritoneal mesothelioma, you can seek help.
Frost Law Firm, PC represents mesothelioma victims and their families. We’ll fight for you to get the compensation you deserve. Our lawyers understand how uncertain this time can be. We’ll stand by your side and do everything we can to hold those accountable for your asbestos exposure and diagnosis, and to help you get compensation that will cover the costs of this illness.
What Is Peritoneal Mesothelioma?
Peritoneal mesothelioma is one of the types of the disease. It affects the peritoneum, which is the lining of the abdomen. This is the second most common type of mesothelioma, with pleural mesothelioma being the most common. About 7-30% of cases are malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Between 2003 and 2008, about 3,000 cases were reported each year in the United States. There will be an estimated 15,000 cases of peritoneal mesothelioma between 2005 and 2050.
When tumors grow in the peritoneum it can cause symptoms like:
- Abdominal distension
- Abdominal pain
- Weight loss
- Nausea
- Feeling full more quickly
There are some other rare symptoms like new onset hernia, fever, and night sweats.
These symptoms can cause pain, discomfort, and will likely get worse until the person seeks a medical evaluation. Let’s take a look at how people are diagnosed and what happens in the steps following the diagnosis.
What Is the Diagnostic Process?
Unfortunately, the symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma are nonspecific. This means that they can be attributed to other health issues. Because of this, a doctor may not make this diagnosis immediately. They need to rule out other conditions first. When doctors run various tests and scans, they have to keep differential diagnoses in mind. A differential diagnosis is when doctors will differentiate between various health conditions that share symptoms. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma may appear to be health complications like:
- Peritoneal carcinomatosis
- Serous peritoneal carcinoma
- Ovarian carcinoma
- Lymphomatosis
- Tuberculous peritonitis
There has yet to be an imaging process that is specifically for detecting peritoneal mesothelioma.
Once the doctor determines the disease is mesothelioma, then they will move on to possible treatment options and expectations for the future.
Living with Peritoneal Mesothelioma
Many factors can affect the prognosis. The cell type and cancer stage are part of this. For example, epithelioid cells typically have a better response to treatment. They’re also the more common cell type, occurring in approximately 75% of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. The median survival rate of patients with epithelioid cells is 55 months. On the other hand, sarcomatous cells don’t respond as well to treatment. The tumor can be made up of a combination of epithelioid and sarcomatous cells. If the tumor is biphasic, having both cell types, the prognosis is typically around 13 months.
It’s important to note that while some cell types may respond better to treatment, there isn’t a cure for peritoneal mesothelioma. Treatment can help prolong a person’s life and slow down the cancer. There’s also the important focus of palliative care, which will help make the patient more comfortable.
As you go through the treatments that help reduce the growth and spread of the cancer, palliative care will help improve quality of life. With these two types of care, the patient will likely have many appointments with healthcare specialists, procedures, and medications in their future. The costs of this care can be expensive. If you or your loved one is worried about affording care, know that there are people ready to fight for you. You shouldn’t have to worry about getting the necessary treatment to help fight the cancer, maintaining quality of life, and being able to keep up with other financial responsibilities.
Get the Legal Representation You Deserve
At Frost Law Firm, PC, our goal is to give a voice to those who have suffered because of exposure to dangerous substances that cause mesothelioma. There’s going to be a lot on your mind during the treatment process and we can help alleviate your questions and concerns about filing a legal claim. It’s likely the cancer-causing exposure occurred because of the negligent actions of another party.
However, because mesothelioma takes so long to develop and present, it can be difficult to find out where your exposure happened and who is at fault. That’s where we come in. Our team is ready to meet with you or your loved one to discuss your case in a free consultation. All you have to do is contact our office. Then, we can begin investigating your case and move forward in getting you the justice you deserve. We’ll work diligently to discover how the exposure happened and who was at fault to hold that party accountable for their negligence.
Our skilled Hawaii mesothelioma lawyers are ready to defend your rights to compensation for your medical care, pain and suffering, and more. You’ll have peace of mind knowing you have a secure financial future so you can get necessary treatments and focus on spending time with your loved ones.
