A routine well-woman visit last year may have saved Bricca Addison’s life. At 62-years-old, she had been smoking for 46 years. Her primary care physician recommended that she go for a lung cancer screening because she met the screening guidelines. She had no symptoms of lung cancer.

Lung cancer screenings are recommended for adults who are between 50 to 80 years old and have a smoked the equivalent of a pack a day for 20 years, as well as any former smokers who have quit within the past 15 years.

Screening involves a low-dose CT scan that takes five or 10 minutes.

After her screening, Addison was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer.

Read: Lung Cancer: Reasons for Optimism

I had heard about lung cancer screening, but I didn’t know anything about it. I only had it done because when I went for my physical, my doctor said, “Let’s get you a lung screening,” and he put in a referral. I told myself that if he ordered it, I was going to show up, just like I do when he orders blood work. So, I went for the screening in March 2024.

I’d had CT scans before, so it was not a shock to me. The only thing on my mind was, “They're just doing this CT scan for the lung portion of my body.” It was quick, maybe 10 minutes, if that.

After the scan, I was going about my life normally, never giving it a second thought. A few weeks later, I got a call with my results: stage 1 lung cancer in the second lobe of my right lung. I remember that I held my composure, but I was shocked. Nurse practitioner Deborah Gregory, NP, explained everything to me in plain English.

It helped that Deborah said it was really small, stage 1, the best one that I could have. Later on, I remembered hearing the words, “You’ve got cancer,” and I broke down. Oh my god, cancer! But I’m the type of person who will have that mental breakdown to deal with something, then scrape myself up and move forward.

When I learned about the results of my lung cancer screening, I quit smoking cold turkey, and my journey for survival started.

Read: Lung Cancer Screening Demystified

I met with Andrew Brownlee, MD, to discuss options. Surgery was the right option for me because of my stage 1 diagnosis. I needed to have the entire second lobe of my lung removed, because my cancer was contained there. It hadn’t spread anywhere.

He said that once he removed the second lobe, I would be cancer-free, and I wouldn’t need radiation or chemotherapy.

I had the surgery in February 2025. I go for follow-up scans every six months, which I’ll do for the next two years. My first follow-up CT scan was September 2025.

Yes, I’ve talked about it to a few people who I know still smoke. I told them, “You just need to go and get it done.” I had a girlfriend who constantly checked on me to see if I needed anything, and she’d been smoking for a long time. I told her to get a lung screen. She said her doctor had never said anything about it, but she called her doctor and got her lung cancer screening. Hers was negative.

Get it done, whether or not you’re scared. That way, you’ll have the facts, and it might still be early on, when your treatment won’t be bad.

If your doctor hasn’t said that you need it but you qualify, you have to be an advocate for yourself.

Don’t be scared to tell your doctor, “I’ve been a smoker for 20 years, and I need you to give me a referral to get a lung cancer screening.” It should not be an argument; they should just do it.

You know yourself better than anyone else. Always be your best advocate!

If you’re eligible for a lung cancer screening, get tested. Many Californians at high risk aren’t getting screened. California ranks 36th among all states for lung cancer screening, according to the American Lung Association’s 2024 State of Lung Cancer report, placing California in the below-average tier. Ask your primary care physician for a referral to learn about your lung health.