A 69-year-old Greeley woman had just hiked 8 miles in Sedona, Arizona, when she received a call that she had lung cancer.
Despite her active lifestyle, a past of smoking crept up on her without any warning signs.
Known as a “silent killer,” lung cancer remains the deadliest form of cancer among men and women in the United States. However, a noninvasive screening that only lasts a few minutes can reverse the trend.
More than 15 years ago, Michelle Hamilton decided to put out her last cigarette, ending an addiction she had struggled with for 40 years. She moved forward with a focus on good health habits, including taking her dog on 3-mile walks every day and spending a month in Sedona hiking.
Even during her most strenuous activities, she never experienced a symptom that would suggest she had lung cancer, like coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath or recurring lung infections.
“I just thought I was extra lucky that I had smoked for that long and got away with it,” Hamilton said.
It wasn’t until an appointment in 2022 with her primary care physician at Banner Health, Dr. Shauna Grady, that Hamilton’s mindset changed. Grady informed her that people with early stages of lung cancer mostly don’t show symptoms.
Knowing Hamilton’s past as a smoker, Grady suggested a routine lung cancer screening, a low-dose computed tomography scan, which has become the most effective approach to early detection.
Research indicates that about 55% to 85% of lung cancers identified via screening are in the early stages, according to a Banner Health forum on lung cancer screenings in 2024. This promising solution for reducing mortality rates also focuses on non-small cell lung cancer, which makes up bout 80% to 85% of lung cancers.
At first, Hamilton contemplated not listening to Grady’s advice because of the stigma associated with being a smoker.
“It just comes from external pressures,” Hamilton said. “I was really anxious about what they were going to find out and what other people were going to say. And that comes from that thought in your head that goes, ‘Well, you deserve that.’ ”
What haunted Hamilton in the back of her mind, and ultimately led her to move forward with the scan, was the low survival rate for patients with late-stage lung cancer.
Half of 53,000 participants in a 2011 study from the National Lung Screening Trial received chest X-rays and the other half received a CT scan annually for three years, according to the forum. The study showed a 20% reduction in lung cancer mortality among the CT group due to a shift in catching the cancer at earlier stages.
Hamilton’s scan flagged suspicious-looking nodules in her lungs. Two biopsies later revealed she had Stage IIB non-small cell lung cancer. By driving home the importance of catching it early, Hamilton credits Grady as “the real hero.”
Now, Hamilton joins medical experts in hoping the screening can become a standard protocol for people who are at risk.
Medicare and most private insurance plans cover screenings for patients who are between the ages 50 and 80, have a smoking history of a pack per day for 20 years, or an equivalent such as two packs per day for 10 years, and have either quit in the last 15 years or are currently smoking, according to the American Lung Association.
“It should be like a mammogram or a colonoscopy,” Hamilton said.
After receiving her diagnosis on her hiking journey in Sedona, Hamilton knew she had to head back to Greeley for her next big milestone: to beat cancer
The team assigned to Hamilton’s case at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, including pulmonologist David Cowden, oncologist Lin Hao and other specialists, jumped into action to initiate her treatment plan.
Hamilton’s prompt treatment included three rounds of chemotherapy over six weeks, immunotherapy and a surgery, which removed a portion of her lower right lung. No signs of cancer remained.
“It probably was the very best experience I’ve ever had with a medical team. I had choice throughout the entire process,” Hamilton said.
Nearly two years after her diagnosis, Hamilton feels lucky to have returned to her old self. About seven weeks ago, she spent another month in Sedona, hiking 3 to 5 miles each day.
Michelle Hamilton of Greeley, age 69, rings the cancer-free bell after treatment for stage IIB non-small cell lung cancer. (Banner Health/Courtesy)According to Banner Health’s forum last July, hospital systems are working on establishing that “lung cancer screening is an opportunity, not a death sentence.”
“If one person avails of this screening and can be helped before they have a third- or fourth-stage lung cancer, that’s my goal,” Hamilton said. “Is it challenging to put your face in the Greeley Tribune with a smoking history like mine? Absolutely. But if it helps one person, I’m in.”
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