"The Call" by Bucky Mock

December 19, 2015

Fire department physicals are important, and I hope your department is one of the many in South Carolina that offers physicals for their firefighters. Clarendon County Fire Department recently had our annual physicals with North Greenville Fitness. Hopefully our results will be favorable, and we will get a clearance for another year. In 2012, I wasn't that fortunate. I was sent my lab results less than a week after the blood was drawn and told to follow up with my family doctor. Upon seeing Doctor Rudolf Jokl, I was told I needed to see a nephrologist, a kidney doctor, and made an appointment for me to go to MUSC in Charleston. I saw Doctor Nada Abou Hassan and had more tests done. I was then scheduled to be admitted and have a kidney biopsy. On my next visit she told me I had amyloidosis, which is a protein in my blood that was attacking my kidneys. I was also told I was in kidney failure, and they talked about the possibility of dialysis. Arrangements were then made for me to go the Hollings Cancer Center. On my second visit, I saw Dr. Yuban Kang and a bone marrow biopsy was done. Several days later, I got THE CALL. Your results are back. You have a multiple myeloma and you need to be seen right away. I'm a medical person, and I knew what multiple myeloma was. When I first learned about it, there wasn't a cure or a treatment. That had changed and now they had a treatment but not a cure. Now I will get to the point that I want you, the reader, to get out of this article. The part about the tests and the phone call I can't change, but there are things you can do that I didn't know about when I went through everything. I can't say that I went through everything alone because I had a lot of support from Sharon, my wife, and everyone at the fire department. What I didn't know was that my cancer was caused by firefighting and that help was available. When you get THE CALL, your first thought is I'm going to die. There are some things so private that you don't want to share them with anyone. You have lots of questions but you don't know where to get the answers. A great resource for firefighters is the International Firefighters Cancer Foundation (866-411-3323). They are doing a lot with firefighter cancer and can give you options and help you with the choices you have to make. They can also put you in contact with someone that has gone through what you are going through. Another resource is the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association, 800-277-2732. If you don't want to call them, call me, 803-460-5439, or call someone else you know who can help. It is also important that you immediately notify your chief or one of your department’s chief officers. Your cancer may be covered by workman’s compensation and as with any firefighting injury, you have up to 90 days to report the injury and up to two years to file a claim. If there is a death involved, your dependents, or your parents if you have no dependents, must file a claim within two years of the death to claim benefits. You are covered under state workers compensation by:

SECTION 42-11-40. Occupational diseases treated as injuries by accident.

When employer and employee are subject to the provisions of this title, the disablement or death of an employee resulting from an occupational disease shall be treated as an injury by accident and the employee, or in case of death his dependents, shall be entitled to compensation as for an injury under this title, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, and the practice and procedure prescribed in this title shall apply to all proceedings under this chapter, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. In no case shall an employer be liable for compensation for an occupational disease unless such disease was contracted by the employee while in the employ of the employer as a direct result of the employment. Then you must get a Doctor to offer (per state law 42-1-160 (g)):

(G) As used in this section, "medical evidence" means expert opinion or testimony stated to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, documents, records, or other material that is offered by a licensed health care provider.

Then you must be able to show an exposure within one year as stated by:

SECTION 42-11-70. Time in which disease must have been contracted.

Neither an employee nor his dependents shall be entitled to compensation for disability or death from an occupational disease, except that due to exposure to ionizing radiation, unless such disease was contracted within one year after the last exposure to the hazard peculiar to his employment which caused the disease, save that in the case of a pulmonary disease arising out of the inhalation of organic or inorganic dusts the period shall be two years.

I didn't know about any of this in 2013, but I want to get the word out so my firefighting brothers and sisters will have the knowledge and support that I didn't have. Hopefully you can keep this information stored deep in your brain and will never have to access it, but if you or someone you know gets THE CALL, remember there is help available. ~ Bucky Mock Clarendon County Fire Department