The next morning at National Jewish Health in Denver, we had a brief meeting with one of the
nurses on the doctor’s staff and she told us that the doctor would contact us
within the week with results after reviewing all of the data from the tests
that they had conducted. We headed to
the airport and then back to Florida.
A few days later, the doctor’s call came in: I did indeed have Chronic Beryllium Disease
(CBD). The call basically confirmed what
I already knew. There was no other
explanation for my symptoms. It was a
simple equation, but a complicated disease and a complication to my life and my
future health.
Beryllium Exposure + Beryllium Sensitivity +
Symptoms =
Chronic Beryllium Disease
There was a silver lining with bad news, good news – I could
receive additional financial compensation under Part B of the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) which would include a
lump sum payment and continuing payment of all health expenses associated with
CBD.
Of course, the thought of suing my employer of 50+ years ago
came to mind, especially when I talked to other people. “You should sue. Talk to a lawyer”, they said. My decision to not go that route is a story for another day. A couple of weeks later I received his report which follows:
Patient is a 69 year old gentleman,
never smoker, who about 1 to 2 years ago began noticing shortness of breath and
dyspnea on exertion while playing golf.
He was seen by his primary care physician. Cardiac workup including a stress test was
unremarkable. Chest X-ray was ordered
which was followed by a CT scan and pulmonary function tests. The CT scan was abnormal, but the pulmonary
function test was normal according to the patient. After he was seen by the pulmonologist, he
received a letter related to his previous beryllium exposure encouraging him to
be evaluated. Patient also underwent
peripheral blood BeLPT on 1/25/2012, which was abnormal. That was his only beryllium test to
date. Since then until now, patient has
been still complaining shortness of breath and dyspnea on exertion, but it does
fluctuate depending on the weather. In
addition, he has noticed a skin discoloration on his lower back.
Patient’s beryllium exposure occurred
back in 1960 where after completing high school he worked for (a beryllium
company) as a lab technician. He worked
in extruding beryllium tubing and making nose cones and heat shields for
military purposes. He handled the
beryllium directly where he heated it and then had to mold it, and also worked
on polishing it. He does recall an
episode when a piece of metal that contained beryllium broke off and hit him in
the forehead and he needed surgical excision of the injured area. He stayed with this company for about two
years and then moved on to work … until retirement in 1997 and during that
time, he had no exposure to beryllium.
Included in the report were results of previous tests as
well as those performed at National Jewish Health. The following is the ASSESSMENT and PLAN:
…Workup showed evidence of bilateral
upper lung interstitial infiltrates and volume loss. He does have an abnormal peripheral blood
BeLPT, abnormal BAL BeLPT and also does have non-necrotizing granulomatous
findings on trans-bronchial biopsy, all which qualify him for a diagnosis of
Chronic Beryllium Disease based on The Department of Labor criteria. Currently, he has no significant
physiological limitations from his underlying CBD and based on his CT scan
report of 3/2012 which was compared to 2011 it does not appear that his lung
disease has progressed. At this time, I
recommended a one-year follow-up with patient to continue monitoring his
disease and if there is evidence of disease progression over time that would
necessitate immunosuppressive therapy to control his CBD. He did exhibit reactive airway disease in his
PFTs and would recommend treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid and a
long-acting beta agonist to improve his airflows.
…we will follow up with patient in
one year’s time with repeat chest x-ray, PFTs and exercise test, and if there
is evidence of disease progression at that time, then we will discuss options
of immunosuppressive therapy.
So, as I always like to say, using Paul Harvey’s famous
words, “Now we know the rest of the story.”
It was validating to find out that there is a medical reason for my
symptoms, a hope that there was help on the horizon from National Jewish Health
and the possibility of future compensation from the EEOICP. Of course there is fear and trepidation of the unknown. My hope is that what took 50+ years to progress to this point, will take 50+ more years to progress any further. That will make me 109 years old before it becomes a bigger issue. That will be great!
Everything you ever didn’t want to know about the Energy
Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) is here: http://www.dol.gov/owcp/energy/
