When a letter inviting her to attend a lung screening assessment dropped through her letterbox in August last year she was on her way to the gym. There were no telltale signs anything was amiss. But now the 74-year-old retired journalist and author from Stevenage, Herts, is certain that had she had ignored that invitation, she would not be here today.
“The early diagnosis from the lung cancer screening saved my life,” she said.
Sheila’s appointment was part of a free lung health check programme, designed to find people with early stages of lung cancer, when it is most treatable.
People who are aged 55 to 74, who have a history of ever smoking on their medical record, are registered with a GP and live in an area where the programme is operating, will be invited for a free check.
As a former smoker, Sheila had no hesitation in accepting the offer and she is urging others being given the chance to attend a lung screening to grab the opportunity with both hands.
“Go and get it done,” she said.
The scan is completely painless, quick and is over in just a few minutes. It’s just like passing through the middle of a giant doughnut. It took five minutes at the most, and it could save your life.
Sheila had no reason to suspect anything was wrong, but her health-conscious attitude, history of smoking – up to 30 cigarettes a day at the height of her habit – a previous health scare a year earlier, and a bout of bronchitis in the spring made her keen to attend the screening.
“Those things were at the back of my mind when I received the leaflet,” she said.
After an initial assessment with a nurse, Sheila was invited for a low dose CT scan, which took place in a portable scanning facility at the Asda supermarket car park in Stevenage. When the scan found an abnormal growth at the top of her left lung, she had a full body scan and a biopsy at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage which confirmed a cancerous tumour.
“I’m a big believer in preventative medicine. I don’t believe in burying your head in the sand. Despite having been a smoker I’m very serious about my health now so I went along just expecting to have the screening, get it over with and move on,” said Sheila.
Days after the screening, Sheila received a phone call from Trisha, a nurse she had spoken to at the scan, who confirmed that the screening had picked something up. Sheila feared the worst.
“Trisha was very reassuring and wanted me in for another scan as a precaution, but I knew something was up. A few days after the call I went to the funeral of a really good friend of mine who had died of lung cancer and I was thinking, ‘I hope it’s not me next’. It was awful.”
When she was diagnosed, Sheila steeled herself to break the news to her children Annelise and Michael.
“Telling my children was awful because I knew it would break their hearts.
“When you’ve smoked there’s part of you that thinks ‘I brought this on myself, I deserve it. If I’d never smoked, perhaps this would never have happened’.”
Sheila had keyhole surgery at Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire, to remove the tumour. During the operation they discovered the cancer cells had spread to the wall of the lung so it was upgraded to Stage 2. Because of this, Sheila was treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy to prevent the cancer returning.
Being able to resume her active lifestyle and spend more time with her family, including her four grandchildren, is another reason Sheila feels such gratitude for the screening and the care and treatment she received afterwards.
“I might have been dead by now,” said Sheila.
“That’s not hyperbole, lung cancer can progress really quickly once it gets a hold of you. But I’ve got a lot to live for.”
Sheila is urging others who are invited for screening to do it and not wait until they have symptoms.
A lot of people have no symptoms, and until I had this screening, I was playing squash and being active. If I hadn’t had it, I would have carried on in complete ignorance until it was too late.
In the year since her diagnosis and treatment, Sheila has continued to do lots of exercise, has travelled to Croatia for a close friend’s wedding, has seen her granddaughter graduate from art college, has taken up pickleball and art classes and has written a new adult thriller. She is looking forward to doing more travelling in the coming months.
Sheila said: “This isn’t a dress rehearsal, is it? You don’t procrastinate. You can’t waste a moment and I intend to squeeze every bit of juice out of life, I really will.”