Fighting A Rare Cancer Called Mesothelioma

This is the story of Dr. Stephen Jay Gould, a Harvard paleontologist professor, and how he faced the Big C with a lot of attitude and courage.

In July of 1982, at the age of 40, the American writer and professor, Stephen Jay Gould was diagnosed with a rare cancer called abdominal mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a serious cancer usually associated with exposure to asbestos. Being a scientist, he researched and waded into the medical literature to find out more about the disease. He describes what he found : ” The literature couldn’t have been more brutally clear. Mesothelioma is incurable, with a median mortality of only eight months after discovery.”

In other cases , when we feel vulnerable or affected by the research findings, we tend to be intimidated. But not Gould. His swords of battle are numerous but what stands out was his attitude and sanguine personality in fighting the cancer. He did not allow himself to be overwhelmed by the negative statistics of eight months. To him the statistic is not his destiny but an abstract. After the diagnosis, he tried experimental treatment of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and even taking the cannabis or marijuana.

Gould lived for another 20 very productive years surviving the eight months median mortality period. At the age of 60, he died in May of 2002 from a metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lungs, a form of lung cancer.

We need to learn from Gould. When I read his story, I remembered the Old Testament passage and Isaiah’s injunction to Hezekiah :

“Set thine house in order ; for thou shalt die, and not live.”

But rather than taking to the deathbed, he decided : “I would have time to think, to plan, and to fight.”