Dr. Bonnie Snyder’s Mesothelioma Diagnosis | Mesothelioma Hope

I married a man with mules, and the first thing I was told was that I would learn to drive mules. So, I learned to drive mules. We’ve been married for 40 years now, and I have been riding and driving mules for 40 years.

I am not strong enough to even lift my body into the saddle anymore, and I’m not strong enough to handle a mule. That is all a result of mesothelioma.

My name is Dr. Bonnie Snider. My connection to mesothelioma is that I am a mesothelioma patient and survivor.

My exposure happened when I was 16 years old. That was my first exposure. Because I wanted to go to veterinary school, I was told to get a chemistry degree, and the chemistry labs involved using heat-protective equipment. All of those things were laden with asbestos. I had no idea, as a 16-year-old, that there was any relationship between mesothelioma and asbestos.

I was exposed for four years as a chemistry major in college, and then I became a medical laboratory technician. Altogether, it was about eight years—from the ages of 16 to about 24—that I was exposed to asbestos.

I found out I had mesothelioma kind of inadvertently. I had undergone a double mastectomy as a result of breast cancer, and my doctor wanted me to have an MRI to make sure there was no recurring breast cancer. At the time, I was also being treated for thyroid cancer. During the MRI, they found a little fluid in my lungs.

The doctor thought I should have a biopsy of the lung fluid because it’s unusual to have that much fluid in the lungs. I started having breathing problems, and my husband had to take me to the emergency room twice to have fluid drained from my chest. He finally said, “That’s it. You’re going to do what the doctor said, and you’re going to go talk to the surgeon about finding out what’s going on in your chest.”

That was the first time the fluid was actually analyzed. I underwent surgery and was officially diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Everybody’s case is different, but until you talk to someone who is knowledgeable about mesothelioma and its repercussions, I don’t think you’ve done your due diligence as a patient. I would say that Susanne Conboy is a good place to start if you have mesothelioma.

I am not a litigious person. As veterinarians, we are aware of veterinarians being sued. The more I realized how often veterinarians are sued, the less I liked the idea of suing someone else.

It wasn’t until I met Brett, our lawyer, who flew out to Scottsdale and sat with me and my sister while I was going through chemotherapy, that my perspective changed. Brett was so patient, kind, understanding, thoughtful, and courteous. He was just a genuinely nice person.

He said, “Dr. Snider, you do realize that the companies that made the products you worked with as a 16-year-old knew that asbestos caused mesothelioma?”

I said, “No, I didn’t realize that. Where’s the literature to document it?”

He said, “Well, I can show you the literature.” And he did.

I was essentially exposed with their knowledge. I think it’s important for other people to realize that too—that they have options and may be able to get some financial help as they go through their mesothelioma journey.

There is no way to make filing a lawsuit easy. There is no way to make mesothelioma easy. But I think Brett and Simmons made it as easy as humanly possible, and I truly appreciate Brett. I will always appreciate Brett.