Breathing a sigh of relief
Hebron woman back to running, feeling ‘fantastic’ after swift lung cancer treatment
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, accounting for about 1 in 5, according to the American Cancer Society. Each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined.
When it comes to battling this most fatal cancer, Community Healthcare System wields a powerful new weapon.
“The Ion robotic-assisted endoluminal system is a game-changer for biopsying, diagnosing and treating lung cancer,” said Bilal Safadi, MD, a pulmonologist with Community Care Network, Inc., on staff at St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart. “This unprecedented technology allows us to go further into the lungs and find nodules at a smaller size and at an earlier stage, which significantly improves patients’ five-year prognosis.”
Robin Biggs, a 61-year-old Hebron resident, is one of more than 100 patients at St. Mary Medical Center who has benefited from Ion’s technology since it arrived at the hospital in August 2022.
Biggs’ cancer was detected at Stage 1 after Safadi used the system to biopsy a small nodule in Biggs’ right lung.
Biggs was referred to Safadi after she wasn’t getting better from treatments for what she was told was bronchitis.
“I just didn't have the lung capacity that I always had, and then I got a bad cold,” said Biggs, who had quit smoking decades ago and later became an avid runner, often logging up to 6 miles at a time.
After a battery of tests, Biggs was told she had bronchitis. After two rounds of steroids, antibiotics and an inhaler, her condition didn't improve. She pushed for more testing and was scheduled for a lung scan. She subsequently was told she had “an infectious lung.”
After more of the same treatment, she saw no improvement.
“I said, ‘There's something wrong,’” Biggs recalled telling her doctor. “There was no change. None. Not better, not worse, no change whatsoever.”
Her doctor recommended she see a pulmonologist.
“That was the first time I met Dr. Safadi. He is a wonderful person. I just cannot give him enough credit,” Biggs said. “He just really listened to me about how I was feeling, what I was going through.”
Biggs told Safadi about her family history of lung cancer. At the time, she had just lost a close relative to the disease, and another relative was fighting it.
Safadi scheduled Biggs for a PET scan, which subsequently showed a small nodule on her upper right lobe.
“It was an abnormal spot on the lung. It could have been a variety of different things, including infection, inflammation, but with her underlying history, we felt that a biopsy would be warranted,” Safadi said. “The Ion gives us the advantage of catching cancer as early as possible. In the past, this spot never would have been something we would have considered for biopsy because we didn't have an accurate enough device to allow us to safely biopsy this from the inside, which minimizes risk of lung collapse and other potential complications.”
After receiving the PET scan results and consulting with Safadi, Biggs chose to have the nodule biopsied with the Ion as soon as possible.
The decision gave Biggs the best chance of catching the cancer early enough to stop it in its tracks, and that is exactly what happened.
“It showed that I had lung cancer, and by God’s grace, it was Stage 1,” Biggs recalled. “It did not go anywhere else. It was still all contained in that mass.”
On Valentine’s Day 2023, Safadi’s colleague, Cardiothoracic Surgeon Jason Frazier, MD, performed a lobectomy, removing Biggs’ upper right lobe, and took out lymph nodes to make sure the cancer was contained.
“The cancer had not gone anywhere else,” Biggs said. “My advice to anyone who finds themselves in a situation like mine, is to go with your gut. Doctors are very smart, but you need to advocate for yourself based on how you feel so that they can better assess the situation and help. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of doctors. They listened to everything I had to say and answered every question with thoughtful, reassuring answers.”
Just nine months after her Valentine’s Day surgery, Biggs ran the Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving Day, coming in fourth place in her age group.
“My lungs feel great, and I feel fantastic,” Biggs said. “I am just extremely blessed. There's just no other way to put that.”
