Surfer, Paso Robles, CA

William "Bill" Saller was a 67 year old retired equipment operator and former Marine. Bill admitted to indulging his wilder side in his younger years before he was "tamed" by his wife of 46 years, Donna. Bill and Donna have two adult children, Lori, 48, and Sheri 45, plus one grandson, Garrett, 3. After years of serving his country in the Marines and working hard his entire life while raising a family, Bill was finally enjoying his retirement from a 10 acre piece of paradise located on a hill above Lake Nacimiento near Paso Robles, California.

On July 11, 2005, all of this changed. Just days before their 46th wedding anniversary, Bill was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Prior to his diagnosis, Bill enjoyed hunting and target shooting on his property, fondly reliving his days as a marksmanship instructor in the Marines. Bill also enjoyed looking after his land and helping out the neighbors in their remote unincorporated community. Bill also spent time with Donna working in their garden where they grew fresh fruits and vegetables.

Bill wanted to fight for every day of life. The couple has a close-knit group of friends, one of whom passed away from malignant mesothelioma. His friends like to say that Bill loves life and has lots to live for. For years, the group has gotten together every Monday night at one of their homes for a Monday Night Football party.

Bill and Donna purchased a new pontoon boat last summer. While Bill liked the peace and quiet of fishing and sunset cruises, Donna still enjoys the excitement of speeding around the lake on their wave-runner.

Bill and Donna were given an unwelcome scare just after Bill's mesothelioma diagnosis as they were going to the dock to take their new boat out for a cruise. One of the "noodle" floats they keep on the boat for their grandson went into the water just off the dock. Bill instinctively jumped in after the float causing it to drift further out into the lake. As Bill started swimming toward the float, he noticed that his recently-diagnosed mesothelioma had sapped all of his lung capacity. As he was too far away to swim back to the dock, Bill desperately flailed toward the float and, upon grasping it, held on for dear life until he could catch his breath and be assisted back to the dock.

Troubling Signs Lead Bill To Seek Medical Attention

Bill started experiencing shortness of breath and felt rundown in June of 2005. He also had a nagging pain in his left shoulder and arm. Donna thought he might be having heart trouble, so she made a doctor's appointment for Bill right away. Prior to that time, Bill had been healthy as a horse.

A chest film was taken which revealed a pleural effusion. Bill underwent a CAT scan and thoracentesis. They took a liter and a half of fluid from Bill's left lung. The fluid revealed cancer cells in the fluid.

Bill met with lung specialist, Dr. Howard Hayashi. On July 15, Bill underwent a diagnostic left thoracoscopy with multiple biopsies and a talc pleurodesis. Dr. Hayashi removed several tissue specimens from the thoracic cavity. During the procedure, Dr. Hayashi noted pleural plaques, which appeared to have been of calcium and were pathopneumonic for asbestos, the deadly mineral that causes mesothelioma.

Pathologist examined the specimens and diagnosed Bill as having malignant mesothelioma with an epithelial cell-type.

In August of 2005, Bill met with with Dr. Ganpule to discuss his treatment options. Dr. Ganpule informed Bill that there were no lymph nodes involved. Dr. Ganpule started Bill on a chemotherapy treatment of Alimta and Carboplatin. Bill completed the first treatment. It was planned that future treatments would be administered every three weeks.

Donna got on the Internet searching for any resource she could find. Then, the wife of the friend of Bill's who had mesothelioma referred them to Dr. Cameron at UCLA Medical Center. Bill made an appointment with Dr. Robert Cameron.

Dr. Cameron concluded that since there was no lymph node involvement at the time, Bill was a candidate for surgery. Bill's surgery took place on September 13th. The doctors went in through Bill's back and discovered a very large tumor. They had to take out part of a rib in order to remove it.

Following the surgery, Bill experienced extreme discomfort for weeks. He had terrible nightmares brought on by the anesthesia. There were four tubes coming out of his side, and they were hooked up to what sounded like a Maytag washing machine in the wash cycle. This was 24/7-it never shut off-and Bill was always to be connected to it. One tube in particular was almost three quarters of an inch or bigger in diameter.

Bill couldn't eat. He had no appetite-not even water tasted good to him. The doctors had to give Bill some medicine to enhance his appetite. He was short of breath and just really felt awful.

Bill started going in for radiation treatments 250 miles away at UCLA. The radiation treatments were five days a week for about six and a half weeks. Following radiation, Bill started getting very fatigued.

Bill is by nature very affable and good-natured, which is important to recovery. He does not appreciate negativity of any kind. He is a friendly man with a strong spirit, which he derives in no small part from the love and support he receives from his wife Donna.

*** POSTED MAY 17, 2006 ***

Mr. William Saller passed away on February 9, 2006