Detecting Lung Cancer Blog

Fighting Lung Cancer with the Power of Hope and Early Detection | Real People, Real Cancer Stories: #9

The difference between the Sandra who, at 66, leads Zumba classes and stopped smoking and the Sandra who, just a few years ago, smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and weighed 290 pounds could not be more stark. The former Sandra had trouble breathing to the point that her doctor suggested she go on oxygen. She could barely walk. The Sandra of today bounces up flights of stairs and feels great.

Ironically, feeling so good could have killed her.

Sandra had quit smoking – the leading risk factor for lung cancer – 8 years prior to her diagnosis. She said that quitting the habit was harder than losing the 120 pounds she had shed earlier.

While quitting smoking was a smart thing to do, and does reduce one’s risk for lung cancer, as well as other diseases, Sandra was still at a higher risk for lung cancer than someone who never smoked or who had stopped earlier. According to our Lung Cancer Risk Assessment, which is based upon a published risk model by M.D. Anderson researchers and clinicians, Sandra was still 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer in the next five years than someone her age who never smoked.

Sandra began experiencing pain in her side. She had a CT scan in November 2010, and it showed a cyst on her kidney that would turn out to be benign. However, it also revealed a spot on her left lung. The doctor told her to keep an eye on the spot, and she did not think much more about it.

Sandra waited to get another scan until the following May, per her physician’s suggested follow up. She asked for a PET scan, which showed nothing.

She was relieved, but still concerned, because her older brother had died of lung cancer.

“If I have lung cancer, I want to know it,” she told herself.

So Sandra started doing some research. She discovered Oncimmune®’s Facebook page, and learned about EarlyCDT®-Lung, a simple blood test that, in conjunction with imaging, such as CT or PET scans, aids in the early detection of lung cancer.

She acquired an EarlyCDT-Lung collection kit and took it to her pulmonologist. The pulmonologist was not familiar with the test, but he ordered it and sent Sandra to a lab to have her blood drawn.

Sandra had a positive result, which indicated that lung cancer might be present, even though she didn’t think she was showing any cancer symptoms, though she was experiencing a slight pain in her side.

She was already planning a trip to see her sons in Cleveland, Ohio, so she talked her doctor into sending her to Cleveland Clinic for surgery consultation. There, a thoracic surgeon used a new technique to remove the affected portion of Sandra’s lung.  They did a wedge resection and lobectomy, and sent that for evaluation.

It turned out Sandra had stage IA adenocarcinoma, predominantly bronchioloalveolar type. Fortunately, the cancer had not spread to her lymph nodes. It had been caught and removed early, before it had had a chance to spread. Sandra’s lung cancer prognosis was good.

As if to emphasize just how good the prognosis was, Sandra was out of the hospital in three days instead of the usual four to five. She was back in Florida after two weeks of recovery at her son’s home instead of the usual five or six weeks. Her surgery was on September 6, and just a couple of weeks after she underwent surgery, Sandra was back teaching Zumba.

The doctors said Sandra’s physical condition had a lot to do with her quick recovery, but Sandra also credits early detection.

“Thank goodness for the blood test,” she says, referring to EarlyCDT-Lung. If not for that test, she might have waited much longer to undergo treatment. Sandra remembers her pulmonologist saying that the blood test made it important for him to do something.

Now Sandra undergoes CT scans every six months. In the meantime, though, she is living life to the fullest, keeping up with her exercise and not dwelling on the challenge that might lie ahead.

“There’s hope when you find (lung cancer) really early,” she says. It is that hope, she says, that matters more than anything for people facing the disease.

If you would like to share the story of a loved one who fought lung cancer, or if you are a lung cancer survivor and would like to share your story, please send an email to Kelley.dunn@oncimmune.com. You may also visit our Lung Cancer Awareness Wall, an interactive memorial for those who have battled lung cancer, and submit their story there.

To see if you or a loved one are at risk for lung cancer, try out Free Lung Cancer Risk Assessmentor see a complete list of lung cancer risk factors.

According to the American Cancer Society, early detection is the best chance to increase the lung cancer survival rate. To learn more about early detection, click here.

Sandra’s story is just one of many. To read more real lung cancer stories from lung cancer survivors and people who have lost loved ones to the disease, click here.