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A Lung Cancer Patient Story
A former smoker, Barbara Henry has staved off lung cancer
Dr. Richard Heitmiller listens to Barbara Henry’s lungs during a recent visit.
Barbara Henry lives a quiet sort of life. A part-time cashier for a convenience store, she spends most days tending to more than 30 animals at her home in Owings Mills.
However, Barbara’s simple life was interrupted when she experienced a rasping cough and had trouble breathing. At first, she and her doctor thought it was pneumonia, but their concerns intensified after results from a chest X-ray showed an unusual spot on her left lung.
That’s when she was referred to Union Memorial Hospital for a lung scan. This specialized type of computed tomography (CT) can reveal tiny abnormalities in the lungs that may represent early stage lung cancer. Barbara’s exam revealed the suspicious spot was non-small cell lung cancer, often associated with a history of smoking.
Barbara had smoked cigarettes for more than 38 years. Still, she was surprised at the diagnosis.
“I never thought about it,” she said. “Both my parents died of lung cancer, but you don’t think about it until it happens.”
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women, claiming more lives than colon, breast and prostate cancers combined. Identifying lung cancer early is vital because success rates for treating the disease at this stage are much higher.
Lung cancer has proven so deadly over the years largely because the disease could not be discovered until a mass showed up on a chest X-ray. When that happens, most patients have already developed symptoms and the disease is usually in an advanced stage where treatment options are limited.
“The CT scan looks for spots but not all spots are cancer,” said Dr. Richard Heitmiller, thoracic surgeon at Union Memorial. “Lung cancer is highly curable if found early, so if a screening suggests a spot is more likely to be cancer, then surgery is recommended. If not, then we monitor the patient with follow-up X-rays.”
Luckily, Barbara’s cancer was discovered early enough to make surgery a viable treatment option. Dr. Heitmiller removed the entire upper lobe of Barbara’s left lung.
Best of all, Barbara quit smoking and is back doing everything she did previously.
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