BOONE COUNTY, Ind. — Gaye Brown calls her working farm in Zionsville a slice of heaven.
She and her husband have cows, goats, a horse and 40 chickens. Brown is a devoted caretaker and says she is happiest caring for the animals. So last year, when she felt too sick and tired to check on them, she knew something was wrong.
"I was just sick. You know? I'm talkin' sick all over," Brown said.
She was diagnosed with persistent pneumonia and said when she pushed for more testing, she was discouraged.
"The people that I talked to said, 'well, let's check it again in six months,'" Brown said.
Brown is a former smoker and believes she was exposed to cancer-causing chemicals when she owned a dry-cleaning business. She suspected something else was wrong.
"You still know your body better than anybody else and when you have things that are not normal. I had several people tell me it was a monumental waste of time. Well, I'm willing to waste that time," Brown said.
After pushing for more screenings, Brown got a Low-Dose CT Lung Scan, which detected a nickel-sized nodule in her left lung. Follow up tests and a biopsy confirmed it was cancer.
"The first thing I wanted to do was cry. But then I got mad and said, 'well, we got to get it out,'" Brown said.
She was referred to Dr. Vijay K. Nuthakki, a thoracic surgeon at Ascension St. Vincent.
"We recommended that she indeed proceed with having the left lower lobe removed. Luckily, none of the lymph nodes were involved with the tumor," Nuthakki said.
After surgery, Brown had follow-up chemotherapy, and now, her doctors are optimistic.
"She has a fairly good prognosis. Stage 1 lung cancer is usually about 80 percent, five-year survival," Nuthakki said.
Now, Brown feels more like herself and is looking forward to welcoming five new baby goats in the spring.
"I feel good. I've got my energy level back. And I thank God that I didn't die because that would have been a heck of a way to die," Brown said.
If you are a former or long-term smoker, over the age of 55 and want to learn more about the Low-Dose CT Lung Scan that detected Brown's cancer, click here.