A Pennsylvania teacher said she plans to sue a school district after she was diagnosed with a cancer caused by asbestos.
Lea DiRusso, 51, of South Philadelphia, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer of the tissue that lines the organs, in August 2019.
What she didn’t know was that, during her 28-year career in two schools as a special education teacher, she was exposed to cancer-causing fibers in the walls, ceiling and heating pipes from which she hung her students’ artwork.
Her classroom had even been marked as ‘high priority’ for three years for repair from damaged asbestos insulation.
DiRusso is now planning to undergo an extreme surgery, in which some of her tumor-riddled organs will be removed and her abdomen will be filled with heated chemotherapy drugs, in an attempt to stop the cancer from spreading, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Lea DiRusso, 51, of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, first noticed that her stomach started swelling in spring 2019. She was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer of the tissue that lines the organs, in August. Pictured: DiRusso in her classroom, left, and with her husband Amr Osman, right
Mesothelioma is almost always caused by asbestos, because tiny fibers can get into the lungs and damage the organs. Pictured: Asbestos in a school heating pipe
According to The Inquirer, DiRusso first noticed something wasn’t right this past spring.
Despite adopting a healthier diet and losing weight, her stomach appeared bloated.
‘I’m 51 years old and I actually took a pregnancy test, because that’s how hard my stomach was,’ she told the newspaper.
A gastroenterologist ordered a colonoscopy and endoscopy, and said that he couldn’t see any cancer.
He told DiRusso that she was likely experiencing indigestion due to menopause and she should take over-the-counter medication to treat it.
The swelling was so rapid that, in August, she wore pants one day and then, two days later, they didn’t fit her.
Her husband, Amr Osman, rushed her to the emergency room at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in New Jersey.
During her 11-day hospital stay, four liters of fluid were drained from her abdomen, The Inquirer reported.
Biopsies of her abdominal tissue were sent to Johns Hopkins University for analysis. Later that month, she was diagnosed with mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a cancer that occurs in the thin layer of tissue that covers most of the internal organs and is linked to asbestos exposure.
It mainly affects the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), but it can also affect the lining of the stomach (peritoneal mesothelioma) – which is DiRusso’s form of the cancer – heart and testicles.
The cancer is almost always linked to exposure to asbestos, a group of six minerals made of tiny fibers that were once widely used in construction, insulation and fireproofing.
When damaged, these microscopic fibers can get into and damaged the lungs. It takes at least 10 years, however, for the cancer to develop.
It is estimated that about 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the US every years, according to American Society of Clinical Oncology.
DiRusso has had to stop teaching because she says she is too sick to work. Pictured: DiRusso, center, with her daughter Alysa, left, and son Ashton, right
She says she’s not sure if her only exposure to asbestos was the school she taught at, but two heating pipes in her classroom, from which she hung student artwork, contained asbestos insulation. Pictured: Di Russo, left, with her husband
The majority of cases are diagnosed in people between ages 60 and 80 and the cancer affects men more commonly than women.
Mesothelioma is usually diagnosed at a late stage and, therefore, the overall five-year survival rate is only 10 percent.
Asbestos was widely used as material for installation, soundproofing and fireproofing schools that were built prior to 1980.
The so-called ‘miracle material’ was sprayed on ceilings, in walls and in heating pipes.
Although DiRusso can’t know for certain if her mesothelioma is solely from her school exposure, two heating pipes in her classroom had asbestos insulation.
‘I was completely unaware, as are my colleagues and staff and students, that there even was asbestos present in the school building,’ she told Good Morning America.
‘I did not know the steam pipes behind me were wrapped in asbestos and I touched them. I hung clotheslines to hang student work. I used it because I was creating a home for my students.’
Records from The School District of Philadelphia obtained by the Inquirer show that DiRusso’s classroom were marked as ‘high priority’ for repairs due to asbestos every year from 2015 to 2017.
DiRusso is planning to sue The School District of Philadelphia because she says she didn’t know about the asbestos exposure. Pictured: Asbestos in a school gymnasium
DiRusso has undergone chemotherapy, but her cancer has spread from her stomach to her ovaries, uterus and small bowel. In December, she will have a surgery to remove those organs and her abdomen will be filled with heated chemotherapy. Pictured: DiRusso, left, and with her husband, right
After she told school officials about her cancer, the gym was closed for a month as workers removed asbestos from the pipes, walls and ceiling.
DiRusso is now too sick to work and doesn’t know if she’ll ever be well enough to teach again.
‘I didn’t know it was my last year. I just feel like I didn’t get to end it the way I wanted to end it,’ she told Good Morning America.
DiRusso has completed three rounds of conventional chemotherapy, but the disease has spread to her ovaries, uterus and small bowel.
On December 10, she will be undergoing an extreme surgery to remove her diseased organ and then her abdomen with be filled with chemotherapy drugs heated to 107F for 90 minutes.
‘Lucky people get a few more years, but that’s not good enough,’ she told the Inquirer.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by her former colleague to raise money for her treatment. As of Thursday afternoon, $965 has been raised out of a $1,000,000 goal.
The School District of Philadelphia did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
