Many people who are diagnosed with cancer do not get treatment quickly because they do not recognize the warning signs — or they don’t have any. With something like mesothelioma, which is often aggressive and relatively fast-acting, identifying those signs is critical.
The sooner you can get medical care, the better your odds of a positive outcome.
Symptoms from the American Cancer Society
With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at some of the potential symptoms, as reported by the American Cancer Society:
- Weight loss
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Blood clots
- Excessive sweating
All of these are the general symptoms, but the ACS does note that there are different types of mesothelioma and different locations. These can lead to specific symptoms.
For instance, mesothelioma in the chest is known as pleural mesothelioma. It may lead to things like chest pain, back pain, shortness of breath, swelling, difficulty swallowing and a persistent cough. Pericardial mesothelioma, on the other hand, can lead to an irregular heartbeat, a heart murmur, chest pain and shortness of breath. There is clearly some overlap, and some of the more general symptoms may also be present, but these traits can tell doctors what to expect even before they run the first set of scans.
Understanding your options
If you are diagnosed with mesothelioma at any stage and any location, the first thing to do is to look into your medical treatment options. As with other types of cancer, these are always advancing and care is improving. After the treatment process begins, then start to consider the options you may have for compensation. There may be options available to you that an experienced advocate can help you find.