Sarah's Mother's Assessment

How the pain felt

I was a medical student

Thought it was pneumonia

It was mesothelioma

Surgery was one option

She had to decide

They made no promises

Thought it was pneumonia

She first got sick after this 300 mile bike tour that goes up to Mackinaw City. It was four days of continuous riding. When she came back she came down with what they thought was pneumonia. She went to the doctor two or three times. And they kept thinking it would get better but it didn't. I'd say a week or two after she got the pneumonia she just couldn't make it to work any more, which was so rare for her. She had never been one to miss work. She was hurting for a long time. In fact, she had been hurting long before she started training for the bike race. She said she thought it was micro-valve prolapse. She had this condition her whole life. I guess sometimes her heart would hurt a little bit. She was hurting, I'd say, since about four months before she got sick.


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