LUNG CANCER
by Catherine Menor
VIDEO-ASSISTED THORACOSCOPIC SURGERY REDUCES PAIN, RECOVERY TIME FOR PATIENTS WITH EARLY-STAGE DISEASE
Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is offered by the Thoracic Disease Center at St. Joseph’s in the newly renovated Heart & Lung Tower. St. Joseph’s Foundation supports the Thoracic Disease Center.
n early November 2008, Burton Kohn, 82, of Palm Desert, Calif., woke up one night feeling seriously ill. A trip to Eisenhower Medical Center confirmed a gastrointestinal problem, which could be treated easily. What couldn’t be treated so easily was the spot on Kohn’s lung that a whole-body scan detected during his trip to the hospital. Kohn, who had stopped smoking 30 years ago, was stunned. “It’s surreal. It takes a while to sink in. Then you just feel strange.”
I
What seemed at the time to be an unfortunate discovery turned out to be a very lucky one for this active grandfather. While the spot was lung cancer, it was found at an early stage, and Kohn was able to undergo endoscopic surgery to remove the affect- Burton Kohn with his ed lobe at the Thoracic Disease daughter, Kathy Bain, Center at St. Joseph’s. and daughter-in-law, Deana Kohn.
10
S T.
J O S E P H ’ S
M A G A Z I N E