Health officials are hoping to prevent more deaths from lung cancer by catching it early. One local woman learned this lesson first hand.
Monica Glumm smoked for decades but quit 10 years ago. She didn’t have any symptoms of lung cancer when she decided to get a CT scan. It was a radio commercial that convinced her to get checked out.
“Well someone was on my side,” said Glumm. “I had no symptoms”.
It was a decision that saved her life.
“For the most part lung cancer in its easy stages are asymptomatic,” said Dr. Bill Krimsky with MedStar Franklin Square. “The systems tend to present themselves only in the later stages.”
Dr. Krimsky was part of the team of doctors that helped Glumm through her journey. After recommendations from her doctors, Glumm decided to go through with surgery.
“She ultimately underwent an upper lobectomy which they took one of the lobes in the left lung out,” said Krimsky. “She tolerated the surgery just fine and recovered quite nicely.”
It’s been two months since her surgery and Glumm says she is feeling good.
“It went better than I expected,” said Glumm. “I didn’t think I would come out as well as I did.”
Glumm understands that early detection of the cancer helped save her life. She knows others who didn’t survive the disease.
“I’ve known a lot of other people who have not been so lucky,” said Glumm. “I’ve had friends who had died of lung cancer and they weren’t detected in time.”
Now Glumm shares her story hoping to help more people get checked out.
“The more people that are aware that a CT scan can save your life, not only good doctors too can save your life,” said Glumm. “The sooner they get checked out the sooner we can beat it.”
