As part of its commitment to raise lung cancer awareness, St. Elizabeth Healthcare is proud to partner with the White Ribbon Project. 

Created in October 2020 by a lung cancer survivor in Greenwood Village, Colorado, this program has quickly gathered momentum in celebrating lung cancer patients and survivors and promoting lung cancer awareness across the nation.

“Anyone with Lungs Can Get Lung Cancer”

Fitness instructor Heidi Nafman-Onda was shocked to be diagnosed with stage IIIA adenocarcinoma lung cancer in October 2018 at the age of 55. As a healthy and active non-smoker, lung cancer was never on her radar. Heidi had a CT scan for workup of an ovarian cyst, with elevated tumor marker, when the radiologist spotted a mass on her lung and two enlarged lymph nodes. 

Shocked from her aggressive cancer diagnosis, but determined to beat it, Heidi underwent chemoradiation and subsequent immunotherapy. She felt fortunate to be able to maintain her active lifestyle throughout treatment — exercising, teaching fitness classes, and hiking with her husband Pierre in the Colorado mountains.

But her lung cancer diagnosis took an emotional toll on Heidi and her family. The assumption that Heidi is a long-time smoker continues to frustrate her, even after successfully completing treatment and moving into survivorship. St. Elizabeth, along with groups like the White Ribbon Project, hopes to help disassociate this stigma from lung cancer.

“Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, not just smokers,” Heidi says. She found herself repeating this frequently to friends, family and even strangers when they learned about her lung cancer.

Raising Awareness

In October 2020, Heidi and Pierre decided to channel their frustration into action. They created a large white ribbon door hanger out of plywood and posted a photo in a private Facebook group for Colorado lung cancer patients. The idea immediately caught on, and Heidi and Pierre were flooded with white ribbon door hanger requests. The White Ribbon Project was born.

To date, Heidi and Pierre have made and shipped more than 400 white ribbons throughout the United States and Canada at zero cost to lung cancer patients, survivors, healthcare systems, teams and individuals united in the fight.

“St. Elizabeth is proud to partner with the White Ribbon Project,” says Dr. Michael R. Gieske, Director of Lung Cancer Screening at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. “As the regional leader in lung cancer screenings, we’re committed to educating our community on lung cancer awareness, screening options and the reality that it can affect everyone — not just smokers.”

The White Ribbon Project showcases the modern faces of lung cancer, encouraging patients and survivors to take pictures with their white ribbon and share on social media using the hashtag #theWhiteRibbonProject. The ribbons have created a supportive community and help educate people about who can get lung cancer.

St. Elizabeth’s Commitment to Lung Cancer Screening

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Each year, up to 20% of lung cancer deaths are people who have never smoked or used tobacco products. At St. Elizabeth Healthcare, our Lung Cancer Screening Program is the best in the region. We are committed to reaching at-risk people to catch lung cancer in its earliest stages to give them the best chance at a cure.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare is also committed to educating the community and identifying patients who would typically fall into a screening gap. St. Elizabeth expanded the lung cancer screening program to include a retail option for $99. This option offers lung cancer screening to current or former smokers who have a higher likelihood of lung cancer but do not meet insurance screening guidelines.

“The retail option for the Lung Cancer Screening Program is the first in the region and helps us reach even more at-risk patients,” says Dr. Gieske. “We’re catching lung cancer earlier, which means a higher cure rate for our patients.”

As for Heidi, she is committed to expanding the White Ribbon Project’s message of community and hope — and living with that hope herself as a lung cancer survivor with frequent screening scans.

“Learning to live to the fullest in three-month intervals has become our routine,” says Heidi about the life she shares with her husband and three adult children. “It’s brought us a lot of joyful experiences.”

For More Information

For more information about the White Ribbon Project, please visit @TheWRP4LC on Twitter or visit #theWhiteRibbonProject to see inspiring pictures of lung cancer patients and survivors throughout North America. Local patients and survivors may take photos with two white ribbons located in the Edgewood Cancer Center in Thoracic Surgery and the Patient Resource Center.

Lung cancer screenings are available at one of eight convenient locations in Covington, Dearborn, Edgewood, Grant County, Hebron, Florence, Ft. Thomas, and Owen County. To determine if you are a candidate for lung cancer screening or the new retail lung cancer screening option, contact your primary care provider or visit stelizabeth.com/lung to take a free quiz. Call the St. Elizabeth Lung Screening Nurse Navigators at (859) 301-4072 for additional questions.