Air Force vet, AirCare nurse beat lung cancer twice thanks to a UC screening program

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A United States Air Force veteran and career AirCare nurse found himself needing an emergency flight of his own after a lung cancer diagnosis.

From the Air Force to AirCare

Dennis Schmidt, now 75, served four years in the U.S. Air Force before spending 36 years at UC as a registered nurse with AirCare, retiring in June 2021.

“I actually started in the open heart and cardiac transplant unit, which also did thoracic cases, and then I did five years there, 10 years in the emergency department, and then in 1999, started with AirCare. 22 years there and retired from there,” Schmidt said. “It’s been a very interesting journey in having been in the open heart surgery, cardiac transplant, emergency room, and then flying, and then turn around, and you’re the patient now.”

Signing with the Air Force, Schmidt said, saved his life the first time. He had received a draft notice during the Vietnam War era while painting his mother’s kitchen.

“In the mail was a letter from the Selective Service, which is the draft back then,” Schmidt said. “And it starts out, greetings from the President. You’re hereby commanded to report to this military recruiting depot down at the federal building.”

He called his recruiter in a panic and learned he was already enlisted.

“He goes, you’re signed up with us,” Schmidt said. “And it was a genuine sigh of relief because, like I say, when you’re 19 back then, we watched the news every night and all the controversy, just, I mean, certainly tumultuous time.”

A scan that changed everything

Schmidt had been a smoker but quit approximately 19 years before retiring. He enrolled in UC’s lung cancer screening program.

“And it’s five minutes, it’s three slides on that table, you’re done and nothing special, no prep, just come in, lay down, that’s it,” Schmidt said.

The scan revealed a semi-solid lesion in his upper right lobe — a probable adenocarcinoma.

“And talk about surreal, you know, to walk in and tell your wife, it looks like I got lung cancer. I just retired,” he said. “You hear that happening all the time: people just retire, then get some horrible news.”

Robotic surgery, twice

Thoracic surgeon Dr. Robert Van Haren performed robotic surgery to remove a small section of Schmidt’s lung. A suspicious spot later appeared in a scan, leading to a partial colon removal.

“The colectomy was done out of an abundance of caution,” Van Haren said. “When the pathology came back from the colectomy, it was negative.”

Schmidt remained clear for a period before a second cancer appeared on the same side.

“Dennis, unfortunately, it seemed like developed a second cancer on the same side, but it was also detected early and small,” Van Haren said.

Schmidt opted for surgery rather than waiting.

“And then we got with Dr. Van Haren, and he said we can do the surgery or we can scan you in six months,” Schmidt said. “And I said, why wait?”

Van Haren said robotic surgery allows for smaller incisions, less pain, faster recovery, and fewer complications.

“I think Dennis’s story kind of shows that really so much has changed in the treatment of lung cancer and we’ve made so many advancements where lung cancer, especially if caught early, is curable,” Van Haren said. “Finding it early allows us to treat it and have great success like Dennis has had.”

Screening gap remains

Van Haren said awareness of the screening program remains low nationally.

“Nationally, less than 20% of eligible patients are getting it,” he said. “And we have a lot of initiatives here at the cancer center on just that, trying to market it, work with the community, even work with all the health systems in the region to try and develop collaboration and more marketing and also research to understand, the message is out.”

Doctors say anyone who has ever smoked — even for a year or less — should be screened for lung cancer. Schmidt, who still works as a paramedic and assistant chief for Bright, Ind. Fire & EMS, said he is proud of the care he received.

“Not only did it work just from being the patient, but I was so proud of the institution that I helped in some way to build and bring along through all those years,” Schmidt said.

Information on UC Health’s lung cancer screening program is available online.

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