November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, when VA shines a spotlight on a deadly disease that affects almost 8,000 Veterans every year. It’s a time to raise awareness, educate and inspire action.
In response to the call to action by the Biden administration’s Cancer Moonshot, VA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have come together to inspire Veterans to talk to their health care provider about getting screened for lung cancer.
Pictured above, retired Army Col. Bill McArthur, retired astronaut and former director of Safety & Mission Assurance at the Johnson Space Center; and Air Force Veteran Douglas Cross, chat at the Michael E. DeBakey VAMC in Houston.
With over 1 million Veterans potentially eligible to be screened for lung cancer, hear from former astronaut McArthur and Cross, a lung cancer survivor, on the importance of lung cancer screening:
Cancer Moonshot and lung cancer screening
In partnership with the American Cancer Society, National Lung Cancer Round Table, the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer and the American College of Radiology, VA and NASA encourage everyone who may be eligible for lung cancer screening to discuss it with their health care provider.
You may qualify for lung cancer screening if you:
- Are 50 to 80 years old
- Smoke cigarettes now or quit within the past 15 years
- Smoked cigarettes for at least 20 pack-years
A “pack year” is an estimate of how many tobacco products you have smoked in your lifetime. Twenty “pack years” equals smoking one pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years, or two packs of cigarettes a day for 10 years.
Over 110 VHA facilities are participating in National Lung Cancer Screening Day activities Nov. 6-11, the week leading up to Veterans Day.
To schedule a visit with your VA provider to talk about lung cancer screening, visit MyHealtheVet.va.gov.
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Need to do a better job on getting the word out to the veterans
There should jhave been a short description of what lung cancer screening consists of, just chest x-rays?
You also don’t go beyond smoking, but I served in the Army Nike missile program on NAHA AFB Okinawa and was exposed to: trichloroethylene, Radium 226 and its breakdown products, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and to burnt jet fuel. I had told my VA GP about the recent screening in regards to the PACT Act. However, my health record says nothing about this, and when I ask my VA GP. he doesn’t remember if he did the screening.
Sure do need to do a better job getting the word out on things like this. Nov 6-11 and only got the email on Nov 11th.. what kind of service/notice is this to veterans?
How about those of us who worked with Asbestos both in the service and at PNSY ship yard?
Guess I don’t quite understand, you can get screened for lung cancer
Only if you are a cigarette smoker?
What about things like, second hand smoke, or other environmental hazards ? I’m sure if someone wee to explain this to me, I’d understand?
Its getting hard to breath . Lack of air , I can’t conceive . Is this the answer to my prey ? In my memory . I’m just as happy as I could be . Pain has taken over my body . I want to be , the healthy , happy , me .
Please, a reminder and encouragement to all of the veterans who are on the ‘Asbestos Monitoring Program’ from their active duty time, due to their occupational exposure to asbestos. Thank you from one of the monitored.
Is the screening available for recipients of SECOND-HAND smoke?
Should individuals (50-80 yrs. old) who have been exposed to secondary cigarette smoke be screened, also?
It’s a pity that this program is limited to those who have quit “within the past 15 years”. Lung cancer can show up much later in life, & I think those veterans who quit more than 15 years ago should be eligible as well.
My father, a WWII veteran, developed lung cancer in his 80s – after quitting many years before. Regular screenings might have allowed his cancer to be caught earlier.
My husband, (my veteran) & I smoked for 30 years, but the “within the past 15 years” doesn’t apply to us. We quit in 2007.
Please consider opening up your program to those who have quit earlier than 15 years ago.
It’s always good to be proactive. As for me, I never smoked myself, but I sat in a lot of flight line maintenance trucks for many hours, breathing in secondhand smoke. If I complained, the response was to jump out and sit in the snow if you want to breathe.
Set up a scheduled screening for me.
Colorectal sample delivered yesterday to IMVA UP Mi
I would like too get screen how too sign up