Estrea J.

In 1998, I got the scare of my life. I was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was shocked. I had quit smoking 12 years before that and even then, I was a social smoker. Luckily, it was found when I went for a CT scan of the abdomen. My fabulous radiologist saw the tumor at the bottom of my lung and immediately alerted my doctor who gave me the news. I was scared out of my mind. I had surgery several days later and because it was Stage 1A, they did not give me chemotherapy. I consider myself extremely lucky. Many people don't get diagnosed until it's too late. I am a longtime advocate for lung cancer screening and although it is in place now, it is too restrictive. I believe anyone who has ever smoked no matter what the age should regularly get CT scans. As for people who have never smoked, I don't quite understand what is causing this problem, but more research needs to be conducted to prevent the rising number of cases.