The Bishop of Peterborough, Rt Rev Ian Cundy has been diagnosed with cancer.
Mr Cundy, who has been the city’s bishop since 1996, is suffering from mesothelioma ”“ a rare cancer of the lung cavity.
His office has said that the cancer has been caught at an early stage, and medical experts were hopeful the Bishop will be able to continue with his duties after a short course of treatment.
He has been unwell since the summer, forcing him to cancel a number of public engagements.
Don’t you get mesothelioma from asbetos exposure? Goodness…blessings be with him and his family.
Yes, that is the case. It is not related to smoking, or to any other known causes, other than exposure to a rare mineral that is found only in the Anatolian Plain of Turkey.
Steve McQueen died of mesothelioma relatively quickly after diagnosis. On the other hand, the author Stephen Jay Gould lived twenty years after diagnosis, then died of unrelated causes. I am praying that My Lord Peterborough’s experience is more like Mr. Gould’s–with longevity despite the diagnosis–than like Mr. McQueen’s. Under all circumstances, he has a painful and hard road ahead of him, and needs ascendant prayers.
Warren Zevon is the most recent well-known victim of this disease.
Yes, mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer assoiated with exposure to asbestos.
People who are tobacco smokers and who also have been exposed to asbestos have a 90 times greater chance of developing mesothelioma than non-smokers who have been exposed to asbesos.
Starting in the 1920/30s, asbestos was considered to be an extremely important insulating material. It was an excellent thermal and electrical insulator, it was fire proof (not just resistant) and it was extracted from abundant mineral deposits.
The U.S. Government mandated its use in federally funded construction, particularly in ship construction.
AnglicanFirst, you are correct. Although there is no direct link between tobacco use and mesothelioma, mesothelioma is much more predominant in smokers than in non-smokers. If I recall correctly, the reason for this correlation is not understood at this time.
For those who are interested in the development of non-geographic jurisdictions in Anglicanism, it is worth noting that Bp. Cundy is not only the diocesan Bishop of Peterborough, but also Assistant Bishop of Ely. Consequently, there is a degree of overlap between the two adjacent dioceses.
Both dioceses (like Oxford and Leicester) were carved out of the huge medieval Diocese of Lincoln, Ely in 1109 and Peterborough in 1541. Their cathedrals were pre-existing major monastic foundations—with two of the most spectacular abbey churches in England—that actually governed historic counties known as the Soke of Peterborough and the Isle of Ely. Both eventually ended up in Cambridgeshire, although I understand Peterborough (including the surrounding villages) has recently become a separate local authority. The Diocese of Ely now includes most of Cambridgeshire, including historic Huntingtonshire, and some adjacent areas. The Diocese of Peterborough includes the old Soke, Northhamptonshire, and Rutland.
Due to this convoluted history, the diocesan boundary runs right through the City of Peterborough. You could almost throw a rock from the top of the Cathedral and hit the other diocese. The two diocesans named each other as Assistant Bishops, so that either of them could make visitations in the parishes located near the boundary.
#2, Turkey is probably not unique in that occurrence. See for example:
[url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11920963&dopt=AbstractPlus]this article[/url]
Is there a crocidolite deposit at that site on the Anatolian Plain?
It’s fortunate that Bp. Cundy’s diagnosis was made fairly early.
I am sorry to read this. Ian Cundy is a contemporary of mine, a good and faithful man, we need to keep him and his wife and family in our prayers.