St. Elizabeth Healthcare Celebrates 20,000 Lung Cancer Screening Patient
Mary Leonard learned about St. Elizabeth’s lung cancer screening program from a flyer that arrived in the mail. She thought it was a great idea and proactively scheduled her first appointment. Mary just completed her fourth annual lung cancer screening – as St. Elizabeth’s 20,000th lung cancer screen.
As a 71-year-old resident of the Florence-Union area, Mary enjoys staying active. She golfs, plays bingo once a week and enjoys caring for her pool and garden. In the winter, she relaxes indoors and enjoys her dogs.
She’s also committed to staying proactive about her health – including the lung cancer screening at St. Elizabeth Healthcare.
“The peace of mind when you get those all-clear results is fantastic,” says Mary. “But if by chance I would get lung cancer, at least we would catch it early when it’s easiest to treat.”
Mary encourages those who meet the criteria to go through St. Elizabeth’s lung cancer screening program. Whether you have potential symptoms or not, the low-dose CT lung cancer screening scan can illuminate areas of concern.
“My lung screening was clear, but my doctor spotted a few clogged arteries on my scan,” says Mary. “It’s great that the screening caught a potential issue (incidental finding), and my doctor addressed it right away by putting me on a statin.”
St. Elizabeth has recently expanded the lung cancer screening program by partnering with Eon Health, a software company utilizing artificial intelligence, to help identify, track and manage screenings, as well as incidentally found suspicious nodules and lung abnormalities for earlier lung cancer detection. In 2021, St. Elizabeth scanned more than 6,000 patients for lung cancer and contributed to the state of Kentucky moving up to #2 in the nation for lung cancer screening efforts.
The screening is available at one of St. Elizabeth’s eight ACR-accredited locations. It’s quick, painless – and it could save your life.
“We get breast exams, mammograms and Pap tests,” says Mary. “Why not check your lungs for cancer, too?”
