Diana's Story

Cruising Through Surgery

“Full speed ahead!” says Diana Rogers, a Seattle-area native with an irrepressibly positive attitude. After she had just started chemotherapy treatment for lung cancer at SCCA, Rogers had video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) to remove diseased lung tissue. Then she set off on a previously planned European cruise that she describes as wonderful. At 70 years old, nothing is slowing her down.

Plans to keep
A persistent cough spurred Rogers to visit her doctor in December 2004. But a chest X-ray then showed nothing unusual, and her doctor did not recommend any treatment. In June 2005, the cough had changed, says Rogers, so she went back. This time her X-ray showed spots that suggested lung cancer. A biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Rogers had never smoked.

Her next step was to select the doctors who would manage and provide her treatment. “I wanted somebody that really knew lung cancer,” Rogers explains.

She turned to her nephew, who had been a medical resident at University of Washington Medical Center, an SCCA partner organization. He suggested SCCA and Dr. Michael Mulligan, the first and only cardiothoracic surgeon in Washington State to use the minimally invasive VATS procedure.

“He said Mulligan was the best one to have,” Rogers says.

She set up a visit with Mulligan, where they discussed her cancer and the surgery she needed and determined she was a good candidate for VATS. Mulligan also recommended Dr. Keith Eaton, a medical oncologist at SCCA who specializes in lung cancer. Eaton oversees Rogers’ treatment.

“I also had on my agenda at the middle of August a two-week cruise to Europe,” says Rogers. So she informed Mulligan that she wanted this lung thing taken care of now so she could go. Due to a cancellation in his schedule, Mulligan had an opening to perform the surgery on Thursday, July 14, 2005, and Rogers snatched it up. The following Monday, she went home, and three weeks later she left on her cruise as planned.

Easy does it
VATS allows doctors to perform chest surgery through a series of small incisions. A camera inserted through one incision guides their work. The procedure is much less invasive than traditional open-chest surgery, which requires cutting through or spreading open the rib cage and cutting extensively through muscle. People who undergo VATS spend less time in the hospital, need less pain medication, and recover much faster. VATS is available at only about 30 centers in the country, including UW Medical Center.

Rogers says she has a friend who recently had part of a lung removed using the traditional method of spreading the ribs. “Six weeks later, she was still feeling the pain,” says Rogers, “whereas in two weeks, I was raring to go! I just have one little scar in my throat, and a very small two-inch scar under my breast, plus the drainage tube areas. Otherwise there’s nothing. Not like these huge scars that people have. This surgery was cool. It really was. It was so easy.”

She also describes her recovery, spent at a daughter’s house in Edmonds, as easy. “I didn’t really have any pain,” she says.

About three week after surgery, Rogers flew to England for a cruise to Italy with her sister, brother-in-law, and a friend. “It was wonderful!” says Rogers. While she spent some time sitting, relaxing and reading, she was also comfortable being up and active, such as at ports of call. “I often did lots of walking when we got to places.”

Seeing the world
After returning from her cruise, Rogers started a series of chemotherapy treatments, designed to kill any cancer cells that remain in her body. Every three weeks, she visits SCCA to see Eaton and discussed any problems or concerns she had. Then she received an infusion of carboplatin and taxol. After four treatments she hopes that will be the end of her cancer.

Rogers retired in January 2005 from more than 30 years working as a food service broker, selling foods from various manufacturers into institutional kitchens, such as at hospitals and schools. Now for fun she quilts when she isn't cruising. “I’m making a quilt for each one of my grandchildren, of which I have 10”—nine girls and one boy.

After her European cruise, she took off for a cruise around New Zealand and Australia. She can’t choose one top destination, she says. “Everyplace is a favorite.”

 

October 2006