Good News in the Fight Against Mesothelioma

Julie Gundlach (right), her husband Dan Young, and their daughter, Madeline Young. Photo provided.

It’s not often that I get to report good news about asbestos issues. In fact, when I stop and think about it for a second, I don’t believe I’ve ever reported good news. Nope. Even with news that was supposed to be good, like the release of the Rumple Report, or the Libby Public Health Emergency declaration, I managed to find dark linings in otherwise silver clouds.

So today, after speaking with Julie Gundlach, I’m happy to report some good news. For anyone not familiar, Julie is a mesothelioma awareness activist, who has been diagnosed with this rare form of cancer that has been linked with asbestos exposure. You can read more about Julie here.

First piece of good news is that Julie’s doing really well.

“I feel great,” she said in an interview from her St. Louis home.

In fact, she’s feeling so well that she might just run in the Miles for Meso 5k she’s organized in downtown St. Louis on October 11. Click here to learn more about this run, as well as another Miles for Meso 5k in Alton, Illinois planned for September 26. Both of these will be events for learning more about the disease, and will raise money for mesothelioma research and awareness.

Julie also reports that she’s “been really, really busy” lately.

And her work is paying off. In the last few weeks, she was able to get the State of Missouri and the City of St. Louis to name September 26 Mesothelioma Awareness Day. And she’s hopeful that on September 24, a bill being put forward by U.S. Congresswoman Betty McCollum will create a national Mesothelioma Awareness Day (Click here if you’re interested in learning more about that).

“Last year I tried to get in touch with my lawmakers, and never heard anything,” she says.

Julie hopes efforts like these will have an effect.

“If nothing else, we’re going to reach hundreds of people that don’t know,” she says. “I think if people knew the reality of this disease, they’d get mad. And I think when enough people get mad, we’ll reach a tipping point.”

Paul Peters