My husband, Alan, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2003. We had never heard of the asbestos-caused cancer, mesothelioma, and shortly learned it was incurable.
Alan chose to have a radical surgery which removed a rib and his left lung, stripped off his pericardium from his lungs and surgically replaced his diaphragm – all in hopes of more time with us. In 2005, the cancer came back on his remaining lung. Alan felt like he was breathing through a pinched straw, every breath, every minute, every day. When his oxygen levels became critically low, he was tethered to supplemental oxygen. He fought a hard battle with chemotherapy for nearly a year. In 2006, Alan took his last breaths with our then 13-year-old daughter and me by his side. Alan paid the ultimate price for his job – his life. Our daughter was only ten years old when we began our arduous family battle to fight mesothelioma and work with Congress to ban asbestos. Today I fight on behalf of Alan and those who have been exposed, are suffering, or have been silenced by asbestos. I can tell you that the FACT Act (H.R. 982) is just another special interest bill. Sick and dying patients suffering from mesothelioma and other asbestos-caused diseases and their family don't have the time and money to endure one more bureaucratic hurdle that delays compensation, denies justice and puts asbestos warriors privacy at risk. This is just what H.R. 982 would do. H.R. 982 is just the latest tactic in this... |
