La fatiga: El síntoma más persistente del mesotelioma

Today’s world hardly gives anyone a chance to rest. Employers expect you to respond to work emails 24/7, and universities award the most generous scholarships to students who not only spend long hours studying but also participate in multiple extracurricular activities. In the rare event that you find time to rest, your phone sends you a constant barrage of notifications about national and international events that range from worrisome to terrifying and social media posts from your former classmates, which seem perfectly designed to make you insecure about your physical appearance and finances. 

The tiredness that you feel as a result of mesothelioma, however, is on a whole new level. Fatigue is often the symptom that first leads patients to suspect that they are suffering from something worse than a bad cold; to make matters worse, it is also a side effect of almost every effective treatment for mesothelioma. Simply breathing takes effort, and it is hard to have enough energy to think about how you will pay for your treatment or provide for your family.  Therefore, if you are undergoing mesothelioma treatment, you should focus on getting through the day and ask a family member to contact a Houma mesothelioma lawyer.

Why are Mesothelioma Patients So Tired?

Fatigue is a common symptom of many types of cancer, regardless of which parts of the body they affect. This symptom can have various causes, but with mesothelioma, it often has to do with having to work hard to get enough oxygen. Mesothelioma tumors usually grow on the pleurae, which are the membranes on the outside of the lungs and the inner lining of the chest wall. These tumors take up room in your chest, limiting the ability of your lungs to expand.  Pleural mesothelioma can also lead to the buildup of fluid in the chest, further reducing breathing capacity.  Both of the surgeries indicated for pleural mesothelioma involve the removal of lung tissue; extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) even involves the removal of an entire lung. Therefore, even after surgery, you will not be able to take the same kind of refreshing deep breaths that you used to take before your mesothelioma symptoms began. With or without surgery, draining fluid from the chest and pulmonary physical therapy can make it easier to breathe.

Chemotherapy can cause fatigue to get worse before it gets better; the drugs can deplete your red blood cells and white blood cells. It takes until a few weeks after your last chemotherapy treatment for them to get back to normal, so chemotherapy-induced fatigue subsides on its own. If your chemotherapy side effects are unbearable, your doctors can adjust the doses or timetable of your chemotherapy infusions.

Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey About Relief From Mesothelioma-Related Stress

A mesothelioma lawyer can help you recover compensation for the costs of your mesothelioma treatment, so that you can focus on managing your symptoms and coping with the side effects of treatment. Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey in Houma, Louisiana to see if you have grounds for a lawsuit.