Hospital joins with the Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) and Vietnam Veterans of America for national initiative to raise awareness and help veterans assess the risks and benefits of CT screening
(Port Jefferson, NY) John T. Mather Memorial Hospital invites area veterans to call or come in for a free assessment of their risk for lung cancer and the potential benefits and risks of CT screening during the week of Veterans Day, Nov. 11-15
Mather joins the Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA), the Vietnam Veterans of America and other experienced screening centers around the country to honor veterans by providing lifesaving information about their individual risk and CT screening.
Veterans, and in particular Vietnam veterans, are at higher risk for lung cancer than civilian populations because of higher smoking rates and exposure to known carcinogens during active duty.
While lung cancer may take decades to develop, symptoms do not usually become obvious until the cancer has already grown into late stage when survival is less than 15 percent.
Screening those at high risk with low dose CT scans before symptoms occur can identify lung cancer at an early and most curable stage. Individual risk for lung cancer will vary and screening may involve some potential harms.
Veterans have a right to know all the facts and get all the information they need to make a decision. Mather’s Lung Cancer Screening Program will facilitate a discussion on risk and if necessary schedule and perform a low dose CT to screen for the disease. We encourage any and all Veterans who feel they could be at high risk to contact us for more information.
If you are a veteran between the ages of 50-74 and have smoked or are still smoking you can get more information by calling Eileen Zaoutis, Nurse Navigator for Mather’s Lung Cancer Screening Program, at 631-686-2500.
About Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death nationally and in YOUR STATE. It takes the lives of more Americans than breast, prostate, colon and pancreatic cancers combined.
Only 15 percent of lung cancers are diagnosed at an early, curable stage. Today, there is scientific validation that screening those at high risk with low-dose CT scans can save tens of thousands of lives a year.
About Lung Cancer Alliance
Lung Cancer Alliance, www.lungcanceralliance.org, is committed to ending injustice and saving lives through an alliance of advocacy, education and support. LCA provides live, professional support, referral and information services for patients, their loved ones and those at risk for lung cancer; conducts national awareness campaigns; and advocates for multiple millions in public health dollars for lung cancer research.
About Vietnam Veterans of America
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), www.vva.org, is the only national Vietnam veterans’ organization congressionally chartered and primarily dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families. VVA’s goals are to promote and support the full range of issues important to Vietnam veterans, to create a new identity for this generation of veterans, and to change public perception of Vietnam veterans, at the same time that we live up to our founding principle of “Never again will one generation of American veterans abandon another generation.” Therefore VVA is concerned about high risk of lung cancer in every generation of veterans, from veterans who served in WWII & Korea to those serving in Afghanistan today.
About Mather Hospital
John T. Mather Memorial Hospital is an accredited 248-bed, non-profit community hospital dedicated to providing a wide spectrum of high quality healthcare services to Suffolk County residents, showing compassion and respect and treating each patient in the manner we would wish for our loved ones.
For further information about Mather Hospital, visit www.matherhospital.org or “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/matherhospital.
