CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Doctors at Chesapeake Regional Healthcare are able to minimize the pain lung cancer patients undergo with a one-and-done procedure.
“We’re able to, in one day, be able to diagnose that the patient has lung cancer and then be able to take it out right then and there, and then the patient is able to go home relatively quickly,” Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Stephen Noble, MD said.
Josie O’Kane went to Dr. Noble after a scan for one medical issue revealed a small nodule on her lung. It came as a surprise to the non-smoker.
“I’m an active person for my age, I guess, kayaking and with my son. And we go, my friend and I, go on trips and we have border collies, and we do lots of stuff,” O’Kane said.
Dr. Noble shared the surgery O’Kane had in July was made possible through technology and teamwork.
Inside the operating room, Dr. Melhem Imad uses CAT scans as a map to insert a camera down a patient’s throat. Then, he uses another system, a navigational bronchoscopy, to navigate beyond where the camera can see to reach deep into the lung.