Monday, September 26, 2011

Mesothelioma Awareness Day

Most of you who read this blog are already aware that my sister-in-law, Sarah Songer-Smith has Sarcomatoid Mesothelioma. And the reason you are aware is because my family on both sides have posted it on their blogs. (See here and here and here and here.) If you are one of the few readers I have who is not part of my extended family, here is a blog my s-i-l Katie started for Sarah.

So.

Today is Mesothelioma Awareness Day.

And if you read that page you can see this is serious.

Sarah is 30 years old. If she was exposed to asbestos she must have been just a little girl. None of us knows when or how it could have happened. This is usually an old man's disease.

Why did it take me nearly five months to post about it? I have sat down time after time to write about this and drawn a blank every time. Apparently, I am a wuss. My brain veers sideways whenever I try to think about it.

In contrast, Sarah and her husband Shaun are tough as nails. They are in New York getting Sarah treatment because this cancer is rare enough that no one here knows how to treat it. That they are able to maintain their upbeat, "kick-mesothelioma's-butt"-attitude is a testament to their characters. Especially in the face of all the invasive and painful things Sarah has had to endure so far.


We're pulling for you, Sarah. Even the wussiest of us.

4 comments:

kate said...

what a beautiful picture of sarah and shaun. they are not wusses. but neither are you. :) thanks for making me aware.

Clint C. said...

Could she have gotten it playing in the basement at Valley? It was always said there was asbestos down there.

Katie said...

Wow. I'm glad someone was on the ball. I blame it on Mike and Victoria cause they were totally here hogging all of my attention. But I totally meant to post about this day on Sarah's blog and make everyone aware of the day. I think Shaun even went down to rockefeller center for the today show on that day. I never heard how it went. Anyway, mostly I think you guys are awesome. What a great picture of them. THank you for posting that.

Jen Vesper said...

Edith, I know you probably don't remember me, I was Jennifer Polson in high school, but Liza posted your sister-in-law's obituary link on facebook and I had to just stop by and tell you how truly sorry I am to hear about Sarah. My big sis (only 40) just passed away in January from a very rare cancer. We only had about 3 months with her after she was diagnosed, so I know the deep pain and sense of loss you are all feeling and I want you to know my thoughts are with you all right now. Hugs to you all.