Mississippi Crime Fighter Now Fights Mesothelioma

Ted Munn was born in Philadelphia, Mississippi in 1940. His warm and friendly southern persona shines through in everything he does. Hardworking, humorous, optimistic, and tougher than a boot are all characteristics that fit Ted to a "T."

Ted and his wife Donna have been standing faithfully at each others' side for almost 35 years. They were married on November 11, 1973, after Ted had met Donna while he was working as a detective. In 1972, Donna called the police station in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and reported a stalker to the local police. Not willing to just file a report, Ted staked out her home and intercepted the suspect as he approached the house. The stalker, expecting to find his prey alone and unprotected, received a most unwelcome shock when confronted by strapping Ted, his badge, and a burly pair of forearms. Ted recalls the encounter with a laugh. "He got a good talking to, and after that she somehow wasn't bothered any more."

After the stalking incident, Ted and Donna began dating, and shortly thereafter they were married. Donna recalls with a laugh, "I knew I had found my knight in shining armor." Their marriage and their lives have been strengthened by their devout faith in Christ. Say's Donna: "We will accept God's destiny, whatever it may be."

Ted's ability to do his job while maintaining a humorous outlook on life held during his days as a sailor in the U.S. Navy and throughout his lifetime career in law enforcement. Ted will agree, however, that fighting crime turned out to be easy compared to fighting mesothelioma. The difficulty of the fight, however, hasn't slowed him down a whit. He approaches it with the same commitment and the same good cheer that he approached late night patrols in coastal Mississippi.

Ted and Donna have a daughter, Melanie, who inherited her parents' intellect and work ethic. Melanie now works as physician in nearby Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Ted always viewed his physical health as one of his most precious possessions. He took especial care of his health, and always prided himself on being fit. As a career police officer, fitness was a key to performing his job well, both in the practice of enforcing the law, and defending himself. He ran and lifted weights four to five times a week for decades. Ted always assumed that his healthy diet, fitness regimen, and balance between work and personal life would stand him in good stead.

In the spring of 2007, Ted was in Alaska helping build a church when he noticed an unusual shortness of breath. For a man who was rarely if ever sick, and who was accustomed to long days at work without ever tiring, he was taken aback by this troubling symptom. He returned to Mississippi in June, and the shortness of breath worsened. His daughter's wedding was scheduled for July, so Ted decided to keep silent regarding the shortness of breath. "Time enough for that after the wedding," he thought. After the wedding Donna noticed that something was wrong and encouraged him to consult a doctor.

Ted met with his family physician in Purvis, Mississippi. After the chest x-ray was taken the doctor sauntered in and said, "Well, Mr. Munn, it looks like you've lost your lung." Ted's right lung was invisible on the x-ray film, and only a large white blob could be seen. Ted next underwent a CAT scan and met with a pulmonologist at the Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg.

At Forrest General Ted underwent a thoracentesis, talc pleurodesis, and tissue biopsy. The pathology report for the tissue specimen confirmed a diagnosis of mesothelioma. The cancer was confined to the lung and had not involved any lymph nodes. After the biopsy Ted underwent a second talc pleurodesis, as the lung had begun to leak again after the first pleurodesis.

Ted's doctor reported that there were no surgical treatments for mesothelioma and urged him to begin chemotherapy. A friend from his Ted's church is an oncologist and once he heard about the diagnosis he suggested Ted contact M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Ted traveled to Houston and underwent a battery of tests including a pulmonary function test, EKG, blood work, more CT and CAT scans, and a bronchoscopy. The doctors at M.D. Anderson recommended an extra-pleural pnuemonectomy. This radical surgical procedure completely amputates the lung, and Ted pulled back from their recommendation. Through his own research and with the help of his daughter Ted learned about the pleurectomy / decortication surgery which is also used to treat mesothelioma. He read about Dr. Robert Cameron at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles and made an appointment to see if he might be a candidate for this lung-sparing surgery.

In November 2007, Ted and Donna flew to Los Angeles for their appointment with Dr. Cameron. Donna had many questions as did Ted, and they peppered Dr. Cameron with a barrage of inquiry. After the consultation Ted decided that Dr. Cameron was the man he wanted to do his surgery. Two days later he checked into the hospital at UCLA and underwent the pleurectomy with decortication.

Ted's surgery with Dr. Cameron went well and even though it was months before he felt like himself again, he recovered from the surgery like a champion. Next he had to take on the twin challenges of radiation and chemotherapy. Ted's radiation started in January and lasted for five weeks. When asked how the radiation went Ted said, "I didn't have a lot of bad side effects except being fatigued. It makes you tired, you know."

The cancer itself percolates up into his consciousness at strange times. "I will wake up all through the night and it is just something that's on your mind," he says. "You get up in the morning and you say, 'Oh, I've got Mesothelioma.' That's not a nice thing to wake up to every day."

During the time they were in Los Angeles for the radiation therapy, they were able to get out, do some shopping and see some sights. Ted and Donna returned to Purvis in February and consulted with Dr. Cameron in April back in LA. After the radiation therapy they discovered a nodule on his arm in April. The nodules were malignant but Ted decided to have the second surgery back home in Mississippi.

He was hospitalized overnight and after the surgery he was referred to a local oncologist. In May the oncologist started an 18-week chemotherapy regimen of Alimta/carboplatin. The side effects have "been like a rollercoaster. After the third day I get very dizzy and tired. I kind of stay fatigued; this really makes me weak," Ted says.

On the other hand, he experienced only a little nausea after the first treatment, and anti-nausea medication before and after the chemotherapy has been very effective. He gets around pretty well and has gained weight back. The steroids in some of the treatments have helped him gain weight, and best of all he has an appetite and can eat when-and what- he wants to.

The last time he had a CT scan (he's taking one every six weeks) there were no signs of tumor. There's a lot of scarring on the lung from the radiation, however, and as the lung heals it loses much of its natural elasticity and becomes hard. "It's harder to breathe and I'm a little short-winded," he says.

Ted recently went to a dietician who reviewed his diet and gave him some great news. He's free to eat roast beef, pizza, and anything he wants. However, he normally prefers to eat a lot of vegetables, although the southern staples of cornbread, collard greens with a little pork, chicken fried steak, and turnip greens manage to find their way onto his plate with regularity.

Regarding his surgery in Los Angeles, Ted and Donna appreciated the nice apartment provided through the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute, and they stayed there for a week. After that time they stayed right next to the hospital.

Ted feels like Dr. Cameron and the entire hospital staff were excellent. "If I had to do it again I'd do the same thing. I just wasn't comfortable with the other option of having them take out my lung. When I asked the folks in Houston how many of the P/D surgeries they'd done, they said three. Dr. Cameron has done more than a hundred. It wasn't a hard decision to make," Ted says with conviction. "What affected me most was the radiation and the chemo after the surgery." He walks on the treadmill now towards the end of each chemo treatment because he's not as weak as towards the beginnig. Once he's out from under the chemo he's confident he'll be feeling much better.

Ted's doctors agreed that fitness from his job was a powerful factor in his favor. He had a strong heart and had never been out of shape. "The surgery wasn't much of a deal to me," Ted says. "I was there eight days and took painkiller but I was never under severe pain. I didn't take nearly the amount they recommended, I just took half of the recommended dose. There's going to be some discomfort, I figured, so might as well just get used to it."

When Ted reflects on his life, he thinks often about the 38 years that he lived and worked as a policeman in Pascagoula. When asked about his best memories, he unhesitatingly recalls the enjoyment of his first ten years on the street, patrolling his area. "That's when you caught the bad guys," Ted says with a smile. "Catching the burglars in the buildings, or somebody doing something they shouldn't."

One incident stands out, however. He remembers an accident on a bridge going over the river, a bad place where accidents often happened. A man had bought a fancy new Honda motorcycle and while going too fast had hit the metal joints on the bridge. The rider had taken a pretty bad spill and was lying on the pavement with "a few big chunks taken out of his rear end and about everywhere else. But when we got to him he didn't ask for an ambulance or if he was going to live or beg us to help him, he just looked me square in the face and said, 'Do you know anyone who wants to buy a brand new motorcycle?' I told him I was pretty sure I wasn't interested."

Thinking about his career Ted turns contemplative. "I saw a lot abused children, and really I worked so many of those cases towards the end of my career because people didn't used to report those crimes and they do now. I'd rather put a child molester in prison than a murderer. These helpless little children who are always the victims, almost always victims of the people they should have been able to trust."

Ted Munn's commitment to his faith and his defense of the helpless stand as a monument, even as he battles on against his mesothelioma with matter of fact relentlessness, never willing to give up or to lay down arms.

** POSTED ON OCTOBER 2, 2008 ***

*** Mr. Ted Munn passed awary on April 29, 2009 ***