Snohomish County Commission chair diagnosed with cancer
A 26-year veteran of the Shoreline Fire Department, Mike Cooper, 57, now chair of the Snohomish County Council, was diagnosed this week with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer associated with exposure to the toxins produced by combustion.
Times Snohomish County Reporter
Mike Cooper, diagnosed last week with multiple myeloma 
During 16 years as a state legislator, Mike Cooper worked to improve workplace safety for firefighters and to have state workers-compensation coverage include illnesses linked to firefighting.
A 26-year veteran of the Shoreline Fire Department, Cooper, now chair of the Snohomish County Council, was diagnosed last week with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer associated with exposure to the toxins produced by combustion.
Cooper was hospitalized twice in the past month because of a rapid drop in kidney function, and doctors were unsure of the cause. Lab results came back Tuesday: a blood-borne cancer that typically attacks the bones and bone marrow. It can also produce excess proteins that overwhelm the kidneys.
Cooper was familiar with the disease. As a firefighter, he learned of the hazards he and colleagues were exposed to on the job. Heavy smoke, particularly from burning plastics, as well as diesel exhaust from fire trucks, had been linked to heart and lung disease and some types of cancer.
In 2003, Cooper helped pass legislation that included myeloma among the occupational diseases of firefighters, making them eligible for some medical costs to be covered by the state.
"I fought all my career for safety rules, and I'm the guy to get cancer," Cooper said from his home in Edmonds last week.
Cooper's father was chief of the Edmonds Fire Department. Cooper signed on as a volunteer as soon as he turned 18. In those days, firefighters didn't wear masks. Even when breathing apparatus became standard equipment a decade later, many firefighters who considered themselves tough never put it on.
"Only the weak wore masks," Cooper said.
On Friday, Cooper, 57, began what he described as "aggressive chemotherapy."
According to the International Myeloma Foundation, about 20,500 new cases of myeloma are diagnosed each year; about 10,500 people die of the disease each year.
"There's a huge amount of firefighters with myeloma," said Susie Novis, president of the Los Angeles-based foundation. "When any petroleum derivative burns, it's incredibly toxic."
The life expectancy for someone with myeloma is increasing as new treatments are developed, but the average after diagnosis is seven years, she said. Cooper, a Democrat, was elected to the County Council in 2007. He and his wife, Crystal, have three grown children and two grandchildren. He still lives in the 1895 Edmonds house in which he grew up.
Cooper used a firefighting analogy to describe how he'll confront the cancer.
"There's a fire in the bedroom, and we're not going to let it spread to the rest of the house," he said.
