Low dose computed tomography changed my life

        Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and Taiwan is no exception. According to statistics, every 9 minutes and 53 seconds in Taiwan, one person dies from cancer. Taking 2023 as an example, more than 10000 people will die from lung cancer, making it the leading cause of cancer death. Among lung cancer, non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma is the main type, accounting for about 70%, and should not be taken lightly.

        1、 Unexpected findings during health check

        I have no smoking habits in my daily life. In August last year, the company arranged a routine health check. However, I did not like invasive examinations such as colonoscopy and gastroscopy, so I chose low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans of the chest. When the physical examination report was sent to my personal mailbox, I admitted that the content data was the same as in previous years, and the X-ray showed normal results. I did not pay attention to the "handling precautions" below. Until the last day of the Spring Festival in February this year, I received a call from Far Eastern Memorial Hospital's health examination center asking why I did not follow the instructions to go to the hospital for follow-up examination. So in early March, I went to Far Eastern Memorial Hospital again and saw an irregular, nearly 1.3cm ground glass nodule in the upper left lung on the computed tomography image. The doctor recommended early removal.

        2、 Further examination and surgery

        In mid March, I went to the thoracic surgery clinic at another medical center in the north to confirm its growth rate again. Unexpectedly, in addition to the original nodule slightly increasing to 1.4 centimeters, a new 1.2 centimeter ground glass nodule was detected near the right side. The physician diagnosed it as early stage lung adenocarcinoma, and based on its shape and growth rate, there may be a risk of malignancy. It is recommended to have it removed as soon as possible.

        I have decided to follow the doctor's advice and have the surgery scheduled for a certain day in June. On the day of the surgery, anesthesia is first used to perform a CT scan to locate the lesion. The physician is asked to mark the location to be removed, and after the anesthesia wears off, the patient enters the operating room for resection. I still remember the moment when I woke up in the recovery room, I had the feeling of 'it's so good to be alive' in my heart.

                3、 Silent Killer - Lung Adenocarcinoma

        Adenocarcinoma of the lung is a silent killer, with no early abnormalities. Most of it is only discovered through other symptoms caused by health checkups or tumor metastasis, including celebrity Sun Yue, legislator Gao Jinsu Mei, physician Chen Peiqi, Quanta Computer Incorporated Barry Lam, and many others who have suffered from this disease. Recently, there have been reports of artist Wang Jianmin suffering from stage 4 adenocarcinoma of the lung, which has spread from the lungs to the cervical spine and brain, highlighting the importance of early lung cancer screening.

        I hope to remind everyone through my own case that women over 45 years old and men over 50 years old can undergo low-dose chest computed tomography screening for lung cancer during health check ups. Otherwise, relying solely on chest X-rays cannot detect lung cancer early, and when symptoms appear, the best treatment time may have been missed. (Reference: First National Lung Cancer Prevention and Control Plan of the Bureau of Health Promotion of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, online news)

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