Katherine Cook wasn't there two months ago to see the fascinating weddings ever was in the South of the plantation of Oaks in New Orleans.
It was not there to see her elder daughter, striking to see her walk down the aisle in this beautiful clothing, hear heartfelt wedding vows. It was not there to help prepare for the big day as Rebecca's mother.
No, she missed it all. Catherine Cook was not there for the happiest day in both their lives.
Nevertheless, it was very much there in spirit.
Rebecca, however, to her mother's memory was present at the day of her wedding.
Each Member of the wedding banquet-even cute little ring bearer – and every guest in attendance was dressed mesothelioma awareness bracelet. 250 people in attendance. And 250 wristbands.
"My mother was my best friend. We used a double-Date, and sometimes my stepfather, I and my fiance. I know she would have loved to svad'by"Rebekka said recently from his home in nearby Marrero, Louisiana. "We would like everyone to be aware of what makes this terrible disease, and how pointless it is."
Rebecca made it to raise awareness and understanding of mesothelioma, a disease knew nothing about before Catherine was diagnosed. As her mother fought mesothelioma, Rebecca scrambled for answers, she can never find.
"It still amazes me how little people know about Mesothelioma. When people ask me about my bracelet, I'm happy to explain. Some of my friends still wear their stripes, "she said. "Even my mom when she knew she was dying, she would say," I wish, instead I got breast cancer. At least then, people understand that I have. " ”
Catherine had a picture of health not long before she was first diagnosed. It was active. She worked regularly. She was on vacation, hiking with her husband on the paths the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, when she suddenly stopped breathing. She was exhausted and puzzling.
After the, often at least twice, she said that she had mesothelioma in March 2009. It is an attack on her lungs and she had already spread.
Do not wait for the family, taking her country's best doctors and hospitals, looking for help and hope, first travel to Texas, then to Boston, but to no avail. Katherine died in less than a year.
"This is a terrible thing to watch someone go through this. I saw that went through my mother, and it was like watching someone drown as she slowly choking, "says Rebecca. "It just seemed as compared with most diseases, doctors do not have any real answers."
Each year United States doctors diagnose 2000-3000 people with mesothelioma. Some doctors specialize in treating it. Search one of these is necessary as catching the disease at an early stage.
Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos, a natural mineral is used in many products. Chaos, which he calls in the body can sit dormant for 30-50 years.
Catherine Cook, exposure to asbestos probably came a few decades ago, and from any place she rarely went to the factory that created the insulating materials near where she lived. She never worked there, but her father once did, and her first husband did, too. It will wash the clothes her husband every day, unknowingly inhaling deadly fibers.
"When my mother was sick, people would say" I do not know your mother smoked. "But she did not smoke. She never smoked. She never drank. She was living a healthy lifestyle. Rebecca said she didnt bring it upon himself ". "It's really scary to think, they still produce asbestos, when they knew long ago, it was killing people."
"In an ideal world, I would like to be this amazing scientist and find a cure for mesothelioma, or at least find a way to check people early, to stop it from reaching the stage where there is nothing you can do," says Rebecca. "What I would like to someday is the children of my own and start a non-profit organization to raise money for research to find a cure. "
Before her wedding, Rebecca and her husband-to-be asked guests who instead of gifts for the new couple to find a charitable organization that helps fund research mesothelioma. However, what they found were very few that used the money for this particular cancer, which is rare compared with others.
"I would like to spend raising money for this reason, if he can spare one family from having to go through what my mother went through my whole life," says Rebecca. "It was the best mother anyone could ask for, but towards the end, she could not walk five feet without using oxygen. I just feel the need to do something about this disease. She would like me to help find a cure. "
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 11: 44 am and is filed under mesothelioma asbestos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed.
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