Early Lung Cancer Screening and Care at Silver Cross Means More Years with Grandchildren for Lockport Man

Brian Villanova admits to smoking up to a pack and a half of cigarettes a day for about 53 of his 66 years. 

That continued even after a heart attack when he was 52 and a prostatectomy about six years ago. 

Though Villanova, a retired truck driver from Lockport, questions his decision to smoke, he was wise enough to listen to his primary care physician Dr. Daniel Co on staff at Silver Cross Hospital  in New Lenox a few years ago, who noted that his lifelong smoking habit and sedentary lifestyle put him at risk for lung cancer. 

Follow-ups during the next several years ultimately led to Villanova having a small portion of his lung removed in December at Silver Cross.  

“The silver dollar-sized piece of lung they took out turned out to show Stage 1 large cell carcinoma,” Villanova said. “And thankfully, it had not spread.” 

Villanova said he didn’t think anything of it when a chest X-ray taken after he and his wife, Alyce, were in an accident showed a small spot on his lung. 

“It was really small. And with the same machine, my wife had a spot in the same location. So, we just let it go. Until I had my recent cancer scare. She had an X-ray done, and she’s fine.” 

Villanova said he appreciated his doctors on staff at Silver Cross staying the course with follow-ups after learning a spot found in 2023 on his lung had grown about 15 percent in a year. 

“Initially, the doctor said we could keep an eye on it because it was so small. A year later, it was still pretty small, but the doctors didn’t like how much it had grown. 

“So, we scheduled a biopsy. The problem was, they couldn’t reach the spot because of where it was so high in the lung. They got as close as they could, and the results were clear. 

“But it still didn’t sit right with them, or me, either. So, like I did when I had my prostate removed, I told them, ‘Just go in and get it out of there.’” 

Silver Cross Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Gillian Alex did just that on Dec. 15. And she could do it laparoscopically, so there was no need to open his chest. 

“Mr. Villanova’s success story is why we push early lung cancer CT screenings,” Dr. Alex said. “When we can catch it early, there is so much more chance of success. Lung cancer spreads so quickly. Mr. Villanova is a trooper. He should be able to go back to a normal life.” 

Villanova said he spent only two and a half days in the hospital and didn’t require any therapy or follow-up treatment. 

“The nurses were great. They had me up and walking right away. They said, ‘If you want to get out of here, get walking.’ The day of surgery was tough, but it got easier each day.” 

While he didn’t notice any breathing problems before the surgery, Villanova said he feels really good now, going to the gym three times a week, just to get out of the house. If he had still been working, he said he could have gone back about eight weeks after surgery.

A planned vacation to Croatia will wait until next year, he said, “But believe me, we will find ways to treat ourselves. Dr. Alex, her assistant and the nurses at Silver Cross were amazing. They’re very happy with how I’m doing. I’ll go back in June for a follow-up scan, but I haven’t had any ill effects.” 

He also quit smoking once and for all. 

“I finally realized being able to spend as much time with my grandchildren means more to me than smoking,” he added. “One of my grandsons has been asking me for nine years why I smoke. I didn’t have a reason. Now, I have a reason.” 

To learn more about lung care at the Midwest Institute for Lung at Silver Cross Hospital, visit silvercross.org 

Or to schedule an early lung CT scan, visit silvercross.org/lung