Heart screening scan article saved my life

I am writing to thank you and to let you know that the oped piece titled “Heart screening scan should be available to all” (Feb. 8) that Dr. David Maron, Dr. William Bommer and Stephen Shortell authored for the San Jose Mercury News saved my life.

When I went for my annual physical in May, I shared your article with my primary care physician as I was concerned about my risk factors for heart disease, heart attack and stroke. On May 16, I had the coronary artery calcium CT test that your article recommended. The good news was that the test revealed that I had 0 percent

calcium buildup in the vessels to my heart; the bad news was that the scan revealed a mass in my lung. The diagnosis was lung cancer.

On June 19, I had surgery at Stanford to remove the lower left lobe of my lung that contained the cancerous mass. Because of your article, my lung cancer was discovered at stage 1. This early detection saved my life and I am now at home making a full recovery. Without the CT test that you recommended, I would never have suspected that I had lung cancer. I am age 67, active and healthy; I was completely asymptomatic, felt fine and I never smoked. I am one of the luckiest people in the world! I know this because my husband (an Ironman, cross-country cyclist, never-smoker) died of lung cancer. His cancer was discovered in 2011 at stage 4, the stage at which he started to show symptoms. He died in 2015.

As you probably know, most people with lung cancer, the No. 1 cancer killer annually worldwide, aren’t discovered until stage 3 or 4, at which time the five-year survival rate is only about 17 percent. Because my cancer was discovered at stage 1 and completely removed, I am now in effect cured and am NED (no evidence of disease).

From the bottom of my heart and lungs, thank you for sharing with me and thousands of other readers the importance of having the CT test that you said should be available to all. — Evy Schiffman, Foster City