Patient Testimonial - "Low-Dose CT Lung Scans Find Lung Cancer Early"

Gary Heath, age 72, noticed he was coughing more and coughing up more "junk" so when he was at his annual appointment with his primary care physician, he pointed to a calendar in the room that promoted lung cancer screenings and said, "I think I need that." His doctor, Dr. Frank Marino, agreed Gary was a candidate and before long, the former smoker and previous firefighter of 32 years was scheduled for a low-dose CT lung scan.

This past May, Gary went to the June E. Nylen Cancer Center for his low-dose CT lung scan, a safe and non-invasive procedure with a minimal amount of radiation exposure. Annual lung screenings can find lung cancers in their earliest stage when the cancer is most easily treated. Because of the size of the lungs, tumors can grow for a while without causing symptoms. This lung cancer screening did exactly what it was supposed to for Gary - identified something small in his lungs that needed further diagnostic imaging and testing.

Gary had a CT scan in early June to get a clearer image of his lungs followed by a biopsy which determined the diagnosis of stage 1A lung cancer. Gary then had a PET scan in early July to make sure the cancer had not spread anywhere else. Gary said the silver lining was his lung cancer "was early and small and only in his lung.”

Dr. Joseph Morris removed Gary’s small tumor from his lung through surgery on July 26. His medical oncologist, Dr. Nibash Budhathoki, says currently Gary does not need any additional treatment. To monitor, Gary has lab work completed every 3 months and will have additional CT scans of his chest every 6 months.

"I encourage anyone who has risk factors or just feels their body is 'off' to get screened," says Gary. "It was quick and easy to do the lung screening."