Counseling Mesothelioma.
Hello Mr. Smith I am Dr. Munagapati senior house officer in the department of medicine.
I am afraid I have some bad news for you. The biopsy showed that you have a mesothelioma, which is a tumour of the pleura, the lining of the lung. This is the cause of your symptoms. Unfortunately this condition is very hard to treat and the only thing we can do is to try and relieve your symptoms.
You have been admitted with the complaints of breathlessness, chest pain and weight loss. As you know we have done some investigations. In one of them, we removed a bit of tissue from the lining of your lung (biopsy).
This condition is usually seen as a result of chronic exposure to Asbestos. Due to the mesothelioma, there is fluid accumulation in between the layers of the pleura. We can tap this fluid on a regular basis to relieve your breathlessness. There is no cure otherwise.
I am very sorry about the bad news.
(Mean survival: 2-3 years, it occurs 20-40 years after the exposure to asbestos. Get consultant to counsel further).