60-year-old Vivienne Swain is blaming her mesothelioma on her old habit of watching her late husband’s clothes every single day after he went to work.
In the 1970s, Swain’s partner, Michael Power, worked for the Manchester City Council as a joiner. He died in his 40s of a brain disease.
But every day up until his death, Swain took care of her husband by washing his dirty clothes. “I would shake [his] overalls before washing them and they would be heavy with dust,” she explained, “so much so that it would cover the kitchen floor, and I’d have to sweep it up.
“I believe these were asbestos fibres,” she claimed.
Asbestos is a type of synthetic chemical used in many different things. Swain claims that her regular exposure to it in the form of her late husband’s clothes has caused her to develop cancer.
The symptoms began in 2015, when Swain noticed that she was getting a little wheezy and was out of breath more often than before. At first, she thought it was just an allergic reaction to a hamster she was helping care for during this time.
Swain visited her GP then, who gave her an inhaler that helped relieve some of the symptoms.
But just a couple months later, when Swain went on a family trip to the Greek island of Rhodes, she found herself constantly panting for breath. “The hotel we always stay at is up a hill. I've never had any problems before, but found myself wheezing and having to stop,” she explained with concern. “I knew then that something wasn’t right.”
When they returned from their family trip, Swain went back to the hospital to ask for an X-ray to be done of her chest.
She hadn’t thought too much about it – until doctors told her she had to be admitted to the hospital as an emergency patient because a third of her lung was collapsing.
They asked her if she’d suffered any severe injuries, or if she’d fallen or even knocked herself, but Swain could remember nothing of the sort.
For the next several months, Swain underwent test after test as doctors tried to figure out what was wrong.
Then, the news came: Swain had an incurable cancer.
“A cold feeling went through my whole body,” she recalled of the devastating moment. “I didn’t cry, I just launched into asking about treatment. I was on autopilot. I kept thinking about how I’d tell my sons, Craig, Paul, and Todd.”
The doctors told her that at best, she would have three more years. The disease, which had been caused by asbestos exposure, cannot be completely treated.
Swain argued back, “I guarantee you I’ll still be here in five. I’ve got too much living left to do.”
Since then, Swain goes to the hospital regularly for chemotherapy treatment and pleural drains to make sure her lungs remain clear of fluids. Her current partner, Ian Johnston, has been helping her through all of these medical struggles and treatments.
Swain has also reached out to many of her friends and late husband’s old colleagues to see if they have also been affected by their constant asbestos exposure.
A Manchester City Council spokesperson has heard about Swain’s diagnosis and has issued an apology: “It is always deeply regrettable when anybody has contracted mesothelioma or any other asbestos-related illness, but it would be inappropriate for us to comment on this case at the present time.”
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Swain and anyone affected during this time.
