I loved my Marlboro's and enjoyed smoking (yucky), but I knew that it was unhealthy. I was addicted and had smoked for over 40 years. I always thought about the dire consequences of smoking cigarettes and the thought of having lung cancer scared me, but not enough! I continued to smoke.
I am happy to say that it will be two years in October since I quit...yayyy! It is hard to do, but I did it..never thought of myself as being a non-smoker. I knew that there must some damage to my lungs, after all, you can't smoke for 40+ years without some damage!
Chest x-rays showed that I had mild emphysema. Concerned about that issue, I had a low-dose ct scan and a pet scan done which indeed detected that I had stage 1 lung cancer in my left lung!
Surgery was done...awesome thoracic surgeon, everything went well with lots of prayers. I am having surgery again in September on my right lung to remove a suspicious looking nodule (ugh), hope all goes well!
Early detection is so important...it saved my life! My family is very supportive and I am so grateful. I will be 65 in October and I am happy to be able to celebrate! I just want to mention that I never had any breathing problems to indicate that there may be an issue. The only symptom I had was an annoying dry cough...I really was saved by the scan!
