This June 15th will be a special one for Long Vu Chung. Not only is it Father’s Day, but it will also be his 56th birthday. “I am one lucky man,” admits Long – realizing a horrible accident may have actually saved his life.
This June 15th will be a special one for Long Vu Chung. Not only is it Father’s Day, but it will also be his 56th birthday. “I am one lucky man,” admits Long – realizing a horrible accident may have actually saved his life.
The Accident
“On February 12 around 2 p.m., I received the most frightening phone call from Long's coworker telling me he had fallen off a scissor lift. He fell approximately 8 to 10 feet backwards and landed on a concrete surface,” remembers Long’s wife, Kim. “We believe an angel must have lightened his fall since he sustained a slight fracture to his skull and a small blood clot on the outside of his brain.”
Jordan Eckert, M.D., is a surgeon with the new level II INTEGRIS Health Trauma Center at Baptist Medical Center. She cared for Long that day and agrees that his injuries could have easily been a lot worse. “Falls like this can be devastating. I’m glad we were able to manage him non-operatively in concert with our neurosurgeons. No surgery was needed, only time to heal.”
Blessing in Disguise
But the fall was only the beginning, as it would prove to be a blessing in disguise. As part of his overall trauma evaluation, Long received a full body CT scan which showed an incidentally detected small nodule in his lung. “It was about the size of a dime,” says Kim. “The nurse informed me that we should have it checked out once Long recovered from his head injury. At that very moment, I was thinking worst-case scenario that it was cancer - but I didn’t want to tell Long what I thought due to his current condition.”
The Chungs were referred to Nathan Moulton, M.D., an interventional pulmonologist and critical care medicine physician with the INTEGRIS Health Pulmonary Lung Nodule Program. “I informed Long that based on his age, smoking history and characteristics of the nodule, this nodule was high risk for malignancy and biopsy was recommended.”
Moulton continues, “We proceeded with the biopsy and by doing a comprehensive procedure with Ion Robotic Bronchoscopy and Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Staging we were able to determine that this was an early, Stage IA, lung cancer. Long was referred to cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Daniel Freno for curative resection and had surgery for removal of the tumor last month.” The robotic assisted, minimally invasive surgery allowed for a quicker, more comfortable recovery compared to conventional lung surgery.
Early Detection Saves Lives
Today, Long is doing well and is cancer free. “I have always been a seemingly very healthy man. If it were not for the accident, I would have never known that there was anything wrong or happening inside of me and the treatment would have been much more extensive. I only required surgery, no chemo or any other treatment! I am so very fortunate for everything to happen the way it did.”
Moulton points out that this case truly highlights the impact of a well-integrated health system. He adds, “Mr. Chung’s experience also underscores the ongoing challenges and opportunities in lung cancer screening and research. Despite his smoking history, he did not meet current guideline criteria for lung cancer screening with low-dose CT. Without his visit to the emergency department, his cancer may have gone undetected until a much later stage. Lung cancer remains one of the most prevalent and deadliest cancers worldwide, but this shows that early detection and timely care can make a profound difference.”
Long is looking forward to spending many more Father’s Days and birthdays with his wife, their two adult children, Kayla (25) and Kyle (29), as well as their 18-month-old grandson, Oliver (Ollie).
For patient referrals and more information on being screened for lung cancer, call 405-947-3345.
