DANVILLE — Like so many others who believe they know their own bodies, James Brasker thought he knew why his energy was so low and he had difficulty breathing.

“I thought it was my asthma acting up,” the Perrysville, Ind. man recalled. “A friend of mine from Florida was visiting at the time. We were playing golf every day.”

Brasker said what concerned him more than how he felt after his golf game was how tired he became when he tried to play with his granddaughter.

That’s when he decided to go see his doctor. He learned he had lung cancer.

“I never smoked,” Brasker said. “No one ever said why I might have cancer.

“I was told right off the bat that it was stage 4 cancer. Only one in four people lives a year with that diagnosis,” he said.

Brasker went for a second opinion; that doctor confirmed the original diagnosis. One of his lungs had collapsed. He spent three nights in the hospital so three liters of fluid could be drained from his lung.

That’s when Brasker decided he wanted to have his treatment at the Regional Cancer Center at Provena United Samaritans.

“It’s been wonderful,” he said. “The staff answers any questions you have. Along with Dr. Labayog, they have a certain compassion that you wouldn’t expect from people who deal with (cancer) all the time.”

The facts

More than 215,020 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, according to the American Cancer Society. The Illinois Department of Public Health reports that in Vermilion County, more people are diagnosed with lung cancer than any other form of cancer.

That’s why, during National Lung Cancer Awareness Week, Provena United Samaritans Medical Center will play host Wednesday to a Lung Cancer Awareness Mini-Fair in the main lobby of the hospital.

“Smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer,” Jo-Mel Labayog, MD, medical director of the Regional Cancer Center at Provena United Samaritans, said. “We’re trying to reach teens and young adults before they start smoking.

“For people of any age who’ve started, no times is too late to stop,” Labayog said. “If a smoker stops for 15 years his risk of developing lung cancer drops to average.”

"Lung cancer affects both men and women, smokers and non-smokers,” Labayog said. “The best way to prevent lung cancer is to educate yourself on how smoking and other environmental factors affect your health.”

Good news

Since Brasker’s May 2007 diagnosis, he’s made considerable progress.

“I finished six rounds of chemo in early October,” he said. “By the third treatment, I was worn down.

“Now, my energy and stamina are back. I only go every three weeks for a 30-minute drug treatment, and every four months I have a lung scan. So far, there haven’t been any changes.

“I can do what I want to do,” he said. “I just have to do it slowly.

“I’d say my health is pretty good.”

Information

Free lung risk assessments and “lung age” screenings will be available, as well as coupons to redeem for free radon home-testing kits.

HALO and the Vermilion County Sheriff’s Department will demonstrate the effects of smoking using actual pig lungs. The Vermilion County Health Department will have information on smoking cessation classes. The mini-fair also will feature information from Provena’s Regional Cancer Center, Provena’s Lung Aware program, and the American Cancer Society. Refreshments will be served.

Registration for this event is not required. For more information on the Lung Cancer Awareness Mini-Fair, contact the Regional Cancer Center of Provena United Samaritans at 431-4290, or visit http://www.provena.org/usmc.

IF YOU GO

Provena United Samaritans Medical Center’s Lung Cancer Awareness Mini-Fair will be from 2:30-5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the main lobby of the hospital, 812 N. Logan St. Refreshments will be served.