Lung Cancer Screenings: Saving grandmothers everywhere.

by Brooke Neal

I had a favorite grandmother growing up. Most kids do. Mine was fun and funny. Imaginative and childlike. She used to dream up the craziest, silliest, most farfetched stories to tell me at bedtime (instead of just reading me a book, because where’s the fun in that?). She would take me shopping and on exciting daylong adventures when we were together. I even showed some houses with her, since her job as a Realtor often encroached on her weekends. She rarely had dinner on the table before 9pm, which she told me she did on purpose “because everything tastes better when you’re starving.” The older I got, the more I enjoyed her. After I got married she invited my husband and me over often for “double dates.” We’d have cocktails and dinner with her and my grandfather, after which we would dance on their screened porch until it was time to go. She was fabulous and enchanting—no one in the world was quite like her.

But she had her flaws. We all do. She started smoking at age 14 and kept that going into her 60s—until she had an artery blockage that scared her straight. Up until that point, she would roll her eyes and huff a big, dramatic sigh when any of us lectured her or asked her to quit. “I know, I know,” she would say. “But I’m so much nicer and more enjoyable to be around when I’m smoking. See, right now I’m a delight, and you’re thrilled just to be in my presence. Without cigarettes I turn into a mean and scary lady with shaky hands and an angry scrunch-face. It’s ugly. Trust me on that.” But she quit cold turkey after her health scare, and to her credit, she was still delightful even without the nicotine she had enjoyed for half a century.

I remember walking into a restaurant for lunch with her one day a few years later, and a gentleman was smoking just outside. She leaned into me and said, “God, that smells good.” I died laughing. The idea that cigarette smoke smelled good was hilarious, even coming from her. “It’s true,” she said. “But I’d never touch another one. Not for anything.”

And she didn’t. But she knew the damage that she’d likely done with 50 years of smoking. “It haunts me,” she’d say. “I lie awake at night sometimes thinking about it. Wondering what’s in there.” She asked her doctors about it, but they refused to order CT scans or other expensive tests. It’s not medically indicated, they would tell her. There are no symptoms, just try to relax. But it ate at her. Years went by, and she continued to request the tests. Then, in true Marie fashion, charming and dramatic, she made a final appeal to her doctor. “I’ve done so much to get myself healthy, it would be a shame for this worry and stress to kill me now. I mean that can’t be good for me, right?” (Batting her eyelashes, I’m sure.) “I’ll even pay for the tests,” she said. “Please. Let’s just put my mind at ease.”

So he ordered a CT scan, and there it was: a tee-tiny, itty-bitty little shadow. Cancer. She had been right all along. They removed a third of her lung in a radical surgery. It appeared to have been curative, but a year later the cancer returned, and at that point there wasn’t much that could be done. The diagnosis came in October, and she died three days after Christmas.

Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women. It’s largely asymptomatic until it’s progressed, so nearly half of all cases are in the most advanced stage at diagnosis. But here’s the good news: There are actually lung cancer screenings now that can quickly and easily detect cancer. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends the screenings for people over the age of 55 who have a history of heavy smoking (at least 30 years of smoking a pack a day), and people over the age of 50 who have a 20-pack-year history coupled with another risk factor, like asbestos exposure. The screenings are offered by Carolinas Imaging Services, and they’re regularly $250. But this November, in honor of National Lung Cancer Awareness Month, screenings are only $150. Either way, it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind. The idea here is to catch it early, before it becomes symptomatic, because it’s much easier to treat when it’s in the early stages. All you need is a physician’s referral. So talk to your doctor if you’re worried about the possibility of lung cancer. And talk to your grandmothers and other loved ones who can benefit from this.

I know my grandmother would’ve jumped at the opportunity. She died eight years ago, before any of my children were born. Sometimes I try to channel her creativity and make up off-the-wall stories to tell them at night, knowing fully that I don’t do hers justice. And every time I’m late getting dinner on the table and my sons are whining and complaining, I smile and tell them, “You know what? Everything tastes better when you’re starving.”

Brooke Neal is a freelance copywriter and brand strategist. She works with Charlotte Radiology to educate the public about non-invasive procedures that could be life-saving.

Carolinas Imaging Services is offering CT Lung Cancer screenings for the discounted price of $150 during the month of November, in honor of National Lung Cancer Awareness Month.