CentraState - Healthy Directions

Fall 2015 Healthy Directions 10 Lung Cancer Screening Making a Difference for Patients N edra Eagle has always stayed active in her senior community in Jackson. She plays cards, bocce and a mean game of pickleball—a popular paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. She says she felt healthy and had "no symptoms whatsoever" when she decided in the fall of 2014 to participate in the Comprehensive Lung Care Program at CentraState Medical Center. The program offers screenings for individuals considered at high risk for developing lung cancer. "I wasn't a heavy smoker, but I used to smoke regularly for maybe 30 years," says Nedra, a 69-year-old grandmother of eight. "When I read about the screening program in Healthy Directions, I thought it was the right thing to do." Looking back, she now credits her choice to pursue a screening with saving her life. AN UNEXPECTED DIAGNOSIS Two days after her screening scan, Nedra received the phone call she wasn't expecting—the scan had shown a suspicious mass lesion in her right lung. She underwent further testing, including a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, which uses a mild radioactive substance labeled sugar to detect disease in the body. The tests showed that she did indeed have lung cancer. Nedra went for a consultation with Jean-Philippe Bocage, MD, a board-certified thoracic surgeon on staff at CentraState, who recommended that she undergo a lobectomy—the removal of the section of the lung containing the tumor. Nedra Eagle (second from right) discovered she had lung cancer through a screening offered by CentraState and thanks the CentraState team of Dr. Robert Caccavale, Dr. Jean-Phillippe Bocage, and lung cancer navigator Sharon Lorfing, with aiding her recovery.

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