It sounds like your doctor may be a little bit of an alarmist. Breathing in a little bit of asbestos shouldn't give you any symptoms at all. Try to relax The asbestos fibers are teeeeeny tiny and do not impact your health until you have breathed in enough of them over a long enough period of time for the fibers to get into your lungs and cause inflammation. If you are really concerned I would suggest getting a second opinion. I would definatly get a second opinion before you do something as drastic as applying for worker's comp



Generally, those who develop asbestos-related diseases show no signs of illness for a long time after their first exposure. It can take from 10 to 40 years or more for symptoms of an asbestos-related condition to appear (2).
Taken from:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/f.../Risk/asbestos