Breathing easier
CT technician Sue Canistraro prepares Mary Ann Stockdale of Prosperity for a CT scan at West Penn Allegheny Health System Outpatient Care Center in Peters Township.
Doug Stockdale, left, watches as Julie Kutzavitch, a CT technician prepares to do a CT scan on his wife, Mary Ann Stockdale of Prosperity, at West Penn Allegheny Health System Outpatient Care Center in Peters Township, as part of the health system’s expanded lung cancer screening program for smokers.
Doug Stockdale walks his wife, Mary Ann Stockdale of Prosperity, to the door as she leaves West Penn Allegheny Health System Outpatient Care Center after a CT scan.
CT technician Sue Canistraro, right, adjusts the height of the bed as Mary Ann Stockdale of Prosperity prepares for a CT scan at West Penn Allegheny Health System Outpatient Care Center in Peters Township.
Tom Schroeder is breathing a little easier these days. Not only has the former heavy smoker drastically curtailed his cigarette smoking, but he also just got a clear lung scan.
“I smoked for 44 years, anywhere from one to three packs a day depending on my age,” recalls the 59-year-old Cecil resident. “In my 20s and 30s it was about three packs a day, then it dwindled from there.”
Schroe-der is not entirely free of his cigarette habit, calling himself an “occasional smoker.” However his lungs, for now, are free of cancer and he was able to learn that fact through a screening that was absolutely free. West Penn Hospital, part of the Allegheny Health Network, has been offering free lung cancer screenings to long-term smokers at West Penn Hospital since September as part of a pilot program.
The hospital has received nearly 250 calls from people interested in participating and has already detected one early-stage lung cancer. Schroeder’s wife convinced him to get the screening.
“My wife is a retired nurse and she saw an article in the newspaper that they were going to do this study,” he said. “She asked me if I would be willing to participate and I said I would because it I were to have lung cancer, it’s better to find out about it now rather than later when it’s worse.”
Now, Allegheny Health Network is expanding the free screenings for patients at risk of lung cancer to three new sites, including Washington County.
AHN’s Peters Township Health and Wellness Pavilion is one of the new sites offering the free screenings along with Allegheny Valley Hospital and AGH-McCandless.
Lung cancer is the No. 1 killer among cancers, but early detection can save lives. Dr. Lana Schumacher, a thoracic surgical oncologist and co-director at the AHN Esophageal and Lung Institute, said, “If we find them early then we can potentially cure them.”
Lung cancer in the early stages is asymptomatic, so most patients that have symptoms are not diagnosed until in advanced stages.
Schumacher added, “We’re trying to find these little nodules that are about a centimeter in size to follow or biopsy them. We can take them out, and the patient is essentially cured. It’s extremely important to find it early.”
The screening itself takes only about 15 minutes and uses low-dose computer tomography scanning, which effectively detects lung cancer in its very earliest stages when it is most curable. The CT screening test requires no preparation or contrast injections. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommends this annual screening in adults age 55 to 74 who have a 30 pack-year history of smoking (a pack a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years) and either currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years. However, participation in such programs nationwide has been limited because most insurances do not cover the cost.
Highmark provided a grant to support the development of this project consistent with its goals of increasing access to life-saving preventive services.
“There was a national multi-institute study that looked at 54,000 patients across the country. That trial determined the parameters for this screening program and they saw a 20 percent decrease in mortality,” Schumacher said, adding that the screening would normally cost between $200 and $400 , which deters many people from getting it.
Maryann Stockdale of Prosperity said she was one of them. Her husband, Doug, is a radiation therapist at the AHN Peters Township facility and saw a flyer at work about the free screenings. “He said this is something you might be interested in,” said Maryann. “I thought, well, this is OK. He said it was free and I said OK. If it weren’t free, I wouldn’t do it. And to hear Highmark had given the grant for this was just amazing.”
Stockdale made the call and found out she qualified for the free screening. She started smoking in her early teens and smoked a pack a day until age 44. Her mother was a heavy smoker who died of lung cancer and she has a family history of other forms of cancer.
“It put my mind a little more at ease,” Stockdale said of the scan. “If there is something and they catch it early, I would be very fortunate.” Now at age 60, Stockdale is a non-moker and her CT scan was clear. “I felt really good and confident about that,” she said and added that the process was simple. “It’s very easy and I would recommend it for someone who is or was a smoker – especially since it was free.”
Allegheny Health Network has developed a database that tracks participants’ demographics, smoking history, test results and follow-up recommendations to demonstrate the value of the preventive program. Patients who qualify will be contacted by a lung cancer nurse navigator, who will explain the screening process, implications of test results and critical disease prevention measures such as smoking cessation. Results of the screenings are sent to the patient’s primary care doctor along with recommendations for any follow up care or future screenings.
Tom Schroeder said he’s glad he made the call. “The procedure took very little of my time. All told, it was probably a half hour of my time.” And he advises current or former smokers to investigate the screening program. “I would recommend if you are a smoker that you get it done,” he said. “It’s better to find it out early than to find it out too late.”
For more information about the program or to see if you qualify, call 1-844-AHN-LUNG.