The Riverside Healthcare Lung Screening Program offers FREE lung cancer screenings for individuals at high risk.
Patients are encouraged to visit www.shouldiscreen.com as a preliminary resource to assess individual lung cancer risk.
Amy Warburton discusses the importance of lung cancer screening for patients that are at the highest risk. If you smoked, a lung cancer screening could save your life by detecting lung cancer early, when it is more likely to be curable.
Selected Podcast
The Lung Cancer Screening Program at Riverside Health Care
Featured Speaker:
Amy Warburton, RT
Amy Warburton is a registered radiologic technologist that has been employed at Riverside since 2002. She is a member of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT). As the Imaging Patient Navigator, she is responsible for the Pulmonary Nodule Program, the Lung Cancer Screening program, and the Imaging Follow up Program. She works with the Lung Nodule Clinic which consists of a multidisciplinary team that works together to ensure timely evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of lung nodules. Before her role as the Imaging Patient Navigator she worked in diagnostic radiology, the interventional radiology procedure lab, and as the quality management and database manager of the radiology department. Amy and her family reside in Bourbonnais, IL. Transcription:
Carl Maronich (Host): This is the Well Within Reach Podcast. I’m Carl Maronich and with us today is Amy Warburton. Amy is the Riverside Lung Nodule Clinic Patient Navigator. Amy that’s a mouthful of a title. First of all, welcome.
Amy Warburton RT (R) (Guest): Thank you for having me.
Carl: Tell us what the Lung Nodule Clinic Patient Navigator does.
Amy: Well on a daily basis, I follow lung nodules. Patients come in, they may come in through the ER and have some radiology testing completed and if a lung nodule is detected; I make sure that they get the proper follow up from their physician. Also, we do lung cancer screenings at our facility and for those facilities we make – or for those procedures, we make sure that they get the follow up that they needed, and they come back when they need further schedule.
Carl: Yeah, so let’s talk about lung nodules. So, as you said, if somebody comes in you know I break my arm or shoulder or something and I’m in the ER and I have an x-ray, suddenly on an x-ray they say hmmm, in your lungs you have got this little spot or is that how a nodule would appear in an x-ray?
Amy: So, usually on an x-ray, we can see some nodules. Most of them are diagnosed from a CT scan. And then the radiologist will read the scan and from there, if a nodule is detected; he will give it a classification on what it looks like. Most nodules are benign, meaning there is nothing going on with the nodule. But we want to look for the ones that may look irregular and need some follow up completed.
Carl: Now, the scene that I depicted was kind of a “you find it by accident” kind of thing. But if somebody specifically is having – they are coughing a lot, or they are having kind of lung issues then they would come in and get an x-ray or some sort of scan to test for them?
Amy: Yeah, so if a patient comes in and they are having some sort of problem; generally, they will order a chest x-ray and then maybe a CT for a follow up and then the provider from there will go depending on what that shows.
Carl: Yeah, so I would guess there are referrals from primary care doctors as folks go to them for some issue that might come up and then they get referred on that way.
Amy: Correct, yup. That’s correct.
Carl: So, let’s talk a little bit about all that you do with the comprehensive lung cancer screening program. So, this would be looking at nodules and then seeing if they are cancerous or how does the process work?
Amy: So, a lung cancer screening is a low dose CT of your chest. Patients come in, they can be physician referred or self-referred. They come in, they have a CT of their chest completed and then from there they lay down on the table, they go in and out. It takes all of just a few minutes. A simple painless test. After that, the radiologist will read the exam and determine whether or not a nodule is present. It’s similar to a patient coming in and getting screened for their annual mammogram meaning you come in, you just check to see what’s going on. Mostly, the first time you have a screening done it’s just a baseline of your chest. You see what’s going on, if there is any abnormalities or anything like that.
Carl: Yeah, you can watch those over time and see if they change. And then you have that baseline to go from. Now who would be a candidate for getting a screening to begin with?
Amy: A screening exam – there are guidelines that we follow. Here at Riverside, we follow the Medicare guidelines which are 55-77. You must be a current smoker or a former smoker. If you are a former smoker, you must quit 15 years or less and then also have a 30-pack year history of smoking. So, 30-pack year, people say well what is that? That’s somebody who smokes two packs a day for 15 years or one pack a day for thirty years.
Carl: Yeah or three and a half packs – wow, I can’t do all that math. But basically, that’s what it is. And those folks are candidates to have the lung cancer screening.
Amy: That’s right. Those are the individuals that are at high risk that we are looking to get in for the screening program.
Carl: Yeah and are there others who would – I know we talked before we got on the air here about radon which is a cause of lung cancer, can be. Do you screen those individuals or are there parameters for those – for folks who may have been exposed to radon?
Amy: So, radon is actually part of the process. It’s one of the high-risk factors, but it does not limit you to be excluded from – included or excluded from the criteria of being screened.
Carl: Yeah and how do folks know whether they have had radon exposure?
Amy: So, radon is an odorless gas that’s usually found in people’s homes. You really don’t know if you have it in your home unless if your home has been tested. You can get a test just from a general store, any Lowes, Home Depot, any sort of hardware store usually carries those.
Carl: I believe the county health department also provides radon testing kits.
Amy: Sometimes you can get them through your local department. It depends on their availability.
Carl: I see, so that’s an option you could check with, go online just Google radon testing kits and I’m sure you will find a lot of options, so you can find those.
Amy: Yes, that’s correct.
Carl: Now let’s talk more about that individual who has come in and had the baseline screening and if they don’t find anything then, but they want to continue to look. How does that process work?
Amy: So, as long as you meet the guidelines that are currently set by the Federal Guidelines, you can have an annual screening. So, a patient can potentially have a screening from the age of 55 to 77 as long as they meet those guidelines.
Carl: And if in those screenings something is found to be a little concerning; what happens at that point?
Amy: So, if a patient comes in and they do find a nodule, depending on the nodule’s characteristics is how you would follow up. Some we may just say come back in a few months and we will rescan you again and see if it’s grown or has done anything. Some of them, we need a little bit more of an aggressive treatment, do an alternate test within a couple of weeks from your screening or even do a biopsy.
Carl: Well, now you mentioned the criteria an di think one of the first things you said was having quit smoking 15 years or less previously than that. So, is an active smoker, are they eligible?
Amy: Yes. If you are a current smoker you can have a lung cancer screening. At the time of screening, we do encourage you to quit smoking.
Carl: I was going to say probably that’s the first thing you say. If you are a current smoker, you really should quit smoking.
Amy: Yes, and when we do screenings, we do have a respiratory therapist on site some of the time to go over smoking cessation with you. Or it’s available at anytime you can call and talk to any of our respiratory techs about smoking cessation and we do offer other alternatives online through our website that you can find smoking cessation advice.
Carl: Yeah, well obviously, the lungs are much improved if you quit smoking obviously, but so many other health issues are related to smoking that quitting smoking is the first step to better health certainly if you are a current smoker. Talk a little bit about folks who have come in, maybe someone has recommended they come in, they came in kind of reluctantly to do this, but have found something and you get some great success stories for people who may not of realized they had a problem but suddenly they are able to catch it early which is always the key with cancer.
Amy: Yeah, with lung cancer screening the goal is to catch it early. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death. Everyday 422 Americans die of lung cancer. That’s more than prostate cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer combined. So, early detection is really key.
Carl: So, I’m sure you have been able to reassure a lot of people that they are okay or been able to get them help early which allows them to increase the likelihood that they are going to have a better outcome. That’s got to be very rewarding.
Amy: It is. Patients are very thankful they come in. Some patients, they come in and they say they are very nervous to have this scan done. Some are reluctant. And I would ask some females and say well have you had your mammogram. Well of course I have. I go think of it similar to a mammogram. It’s very scary until you do it and then once you find out from the results that everything is normal or what the baseline looks like, it makes it a little bit easier. It’s a very quick, painless test and when patients get done, they always say that was easy.
Carl: Sure, yeah, I think human nature is kind of to not want to think about the potential of something bad so if you don’t know, then you don’t know bad news. But if you don’t know, then you can’t make improvements and try to improve the situation as you just outlined. Detection early is always the key. So, if you fall in the category of being eligible for this, you definitely want to make sure you get it taken care of. And what should somebody do that is hearing this and they realize yeah, I’ve been – I quit smoking, I want to make sure I’m healthy. I want to get a screening. What should they do?
Amy: They can go to their primary care physician. They can talk to their physician to see if they would be eligible for screening. They can go on our website. They also can call our scheduling department or me to see if they would qualify and we can talk about some of their risk factors and go over if they would be eligible for this screening.
Carl: All that information available on the Riverside website. So, if folks go there they can get that information as well. Amy, you did a great job. Thanks so much for sharing the information about the lung screening program.
Amy: Thank you for having me.
Carl Maronich (Host): This is the Well Within Reach Podcast. I’m Carl Maronich and with us today is Amy Warburton. Amy is the Riverside Lung Nodule Clinic Patient Navigator. Amy that’s a mouthful of a title. First of all, welcome.
Amy Warburton RT (R) (Guest): Thank you for having me.
Carl: Tell us what the Lung Nodule Clinic Patient Navigator does.
Amy: Well on a daily basis, I follow lung nodules. Patients come in, they may come in through the ER and have some radiology testing completed and if a lung nodule is detected; I make sure that they get the proper follow up from their physician. Also, we do lung cancer screenings at our facility and for those facilities we make – or for those procedures, we make sure that they get the follow up that they needed, and they come back when they need further schedule.
Carl: Yeah, so let’s talk about lung nodules. So, as you said, if somebody comes in you know I break my arm or shoulder or something and I’m in the ER and I have an x-ray, suddenly on an x-ray they say hmmm, in your lungs you have got this little spot or is that how a nodule would appear in an x-ray?
Amy: So, usually on an x-ray, we can see some nodules. Most of them are diagnosed from a CT scan. And then the radiologist will read the scan and from there, if a nodule is detected; he will give it a classification on what it looks like. Most nodules are benign, meaning there is nothing going on with the nodule. But we want to look for the ones that may look irregular and need some follow up completed.
Carl: Now, the scene that I depicted was kind of a “you find it by accident” kind of thing. But if somebody specifically is having – they are coughing a lot, or they are having kind of lung issues then they would come in and get an x-ray or some sort of scan to test for them?
Amy: Yeah, so if a patient comes in and they are having some sort of problem; generally, they will order a chest x-ray and then maybe a CT for a follow up and then the provider from there will go depending on what that shows.
Carl: Yeah, so I would guess there are referrals from primary care doctors as folks go to them for some issue that might come up and then they get referred on that way.
Amy: Correct, yup. That’s correct.
Carl: So, let’s talk a little bit about all that you do with the comprehensive lung cancer screening program. So, this would be looking at nodules and then seeing if they are cancerous or how does the process work?
Amy: So, a lung cancer screening is a low dose CT of your chest. Patients come in, they can be physician referred or self-referred. They come in, they have a CT of their chest completed and then from there they lay down on the table, they go in and out. It takes all of just a few minutes. A simple painless test. After that, the radiologist will read the exam and determine whether or not a nodule is present. It’s similar to a patient coming in and getting screened for their annual mammogram meaning you come in, you just check to see what’s going on. Mostly, the first time you have a screening done it’s just a baseline of your chest. You see what’s going on, if there is any abnormalities or anything like that.
Carl: Yeah, you can watch those over time and see if they change. And then you have that baseline to go from. Now who would be a candidate for getting a screening to begin with?
Amy: A screening exam – there are guidelines that we follow. Here at Riverside, we follow the Medicare guidelines which are 55-77. You must be a current smoker or a former smoker. If you are a former smoker, you must quit 15 years or less and then also have a 30-pack year history of smoking. So, 30-pack year, people say well what is that? That’s somebody who smokes two packs a day for 15 years or one pack a day for thirty years.
Carl: Yeah or three and a half packs – wow, I can’t do all that math. But basically, that’s what it is. And those folks are candidates to have the lung cancer screening.
Amy: That’s right. Those are the individuals that are at high risk that we are looking to get in for the screening program.
Carl: Yeah and are there others who would – I know we talked before we got on the air here about radon which is a cause of lung cancer, can be. Do you screen those individuals or are there parameters for those – for folks who may have been exposed to radon?
Amy: So, radon is actually part of the process. It’s one of the high-risk factors, but it does not limit you to be excluded from – included or excluded from the criteria of being screened.
Carl: Yeah and how do folks know whether they have had radon exposure?
Amy: So, radon is an odorless gas that’s usually found in people’s homes. You really don’t know if you have it in your home unless if your home has been tested. You can get a test just from a general store, any Lowes, Home Depot, any sort of hardware store usually carries those.
Carl: I believe the county health department also provides radon testing kits.
Amy: Sometimes you can get them through your local department. It depends on their availability.
Carl: I see, so that’s an option you could check with, go online just Google radon testing kits and I’m sure you will find a lot of options, so you can find those.
Amy: Yes, that’s correct.
Carl: Now let’s talk more about that individual who has come in and had the baseline screening and if they don’t find anything then, but they want to continue to look. How does that process work?
Amy: So, as long as you meet the guidelines that are currently set by the Federal Guidelines, you can have an annual screening. So, a patient can potentially have a screening from the age of 55 to 77 as long as they meet those guidelines.
Carl: And if in those screenings something is found to be a little concerning; what happens at that point?
Amy: So, if a patient comes in and they do find a nodule, depending on the nodule’s characteristics is how you would follow up. Some we may just say come back in a few months and we will rescan you again and see if it’s grown or has done anything. Some of them, we need a little bit more of an aggressive treatment, do an alternate test within a couple of weeks from your screening or even do a biopsy.
Carl: Well, now you mentioned the criteria an di think one of the first things you said was having quit smoking 15 years or less previously than that. So, is an active smoker, are they eligible?
Amy: Yes. If you are a current smoker you can have a lung cancer screening. At the time of screening, we do encourage you to quit smoking.
Carl: I was going to say probably that’s the first thing you say. If you are a current smoker, you really should quit smoking.
Amy: Yes, and when we do screenings, we do have a respiratory therapist on site some of the time to go over smoking cessation with you. Or it’s available at anytime you can call and talk to any of our respiratory techs about smoking cessation and we do offer other alternatives online through our website that you can find smoking cessation advice.
Carl: Yeah, well obviously, the lungs are much improved if you quit smoking obviously, but so many other health issues are related to smoking that quitting smoking is the first step to better health certainly if you are a current smoker. Talk a little bit about folks who have come in, maybe someone has recommended they come in, they came in kind of reluctantly to do this, but have found something and you get some great success stories for people who may not of realized they had a problem but suddenly they are able to catch it early which is always the key with cancer.
Amy: Yeah, with lung cancer screening the goal is to catch it early. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death. Everyday 422 Americans die of lung cancer. That’s more than prostate cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer combined. So, early detection is really key.
Carl: So, I’m sure you have been able to reassure a lot of people that they are okay or been able to get them help early which allows them to increase the likelihood that they are going to have a better outcome. That’s got to be very rewarding.
Amy: It is. Patients are very thankful they come in. Some patients, they come in and they say they are very nervous to have this scan done. Some are reluctant. And I would ask some females and say well have you had your mammogram. Well of course I have. I go think of it similar to a mammogram. It’s very scary until you do it and then once you find out from the results that everything is normal or what the baseline looks like, it makes it a little bit easier. It’s a very quick, painless test and when patients get done, they always say that was easy.
Carl: Sure, yeah, I think human nature is kind of to not want to think about the potential of something bad so if you don’t know, then you don’t know bad news. But if you don’t know, then you can’t make improvements and try to improve the situation as you just outlined. Detection early is always the key. So, if you fall in the category of being eligible for this, you definitely want to make sure you get it taken care of. And what should somebody do that is hearing this and they realize yeah, I’ve been – I quit smoking, I want to make sure I’m healthy. I want to get a screening. What should they do?
Amy: They can go to their primary care physician. They can talk to their physician to see if they would be eligible for screening. They can go on our website. They also can call our scheduling department or me to see if they would qualify and we can talk about some of their risk factors and go over if they would be eligible for this screening.
Carl: All that information available on the Riverside website. So, if folks go there they can get that information as well. Amy, you did a great job. Thanks so much for sharing the information about the lung screening program.
Amy: Thank you for having me.