Couple Faces Dual Lung Cancer Diagnosis
After being diagnosed with lung cancer, Herla and Sharon Mullins (third and fourth from left) underwent successful treatment and quit smoking. They are shown with certified tobacco treatment specialists (from left) Erna Boone, Dr.P.H.; Pat Franklin, A.P.R.N.; and thoracic surgeon Matthew Steliga, M.D
| Herla and Sharon Mullins’ lives may have taken an unexpected turn, but the end result gave them a start on a healthier future.
Residents of the tiny Arkansas town of Ozone, the couple was often found on their “smokers’ porch,” enjoying cigarette after cigarette, year after year.
When Herla began to lose his voice in about 2011, he wasn’t immediately concerned. However, the problem lingered, and shortly after his retirement in 2013 he got an appointment with a specialist in Russellville.
“That’s what got the ball rolling,” he said. A diagnosis of throat cancer led to both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. While treatment was successful, Herla didn’t take the extra step to quit smoking and continued puffing on two packs a day.
Not long after Herla’s treatment was complete, Sharon visited her doctor for a routine checkup. A chest X-ray revealed a spot on her lung, which was quickly diagnosed as lung cancer.
“It looked as big as a baseball to me. I knew right then it was cancer,” Sharon said. She underwent five rounds of chemotherapy at a facility in Russellville and was then referred to thoracic surgeon Matthew Steliga, M.D., at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.
Steliga is part of UAMS’ lung cancer team, which includes medical oncologists, pulmonologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, radiologists and others working together to develop individual treatment plans for each patient.
Sharon quit smoking the day before Steliga removed the upper right lobe of her lung. Unfortunately, stress soon got the best of her, and Sharon’s smoking habit returned. “I was just so nervous that I started smoking again,” she said.
Then, as Sharon’s treatment was ending, doctors found a spot on Herla’s lung. They immediately requested a referral to see Steliga.
“We knew we wanted him to see Dr. Steliga. We didn’t want anyone else,” Sharon said.
After surgery to remove a piece of Herla’s lung, Steliga made it clear that now was the time to quit. “He was respectful about it and didn’t pressure us. But unless Herla quit smoking, there was nothing else Dr. Steliga could do for him,” Sharon said.
That was all the couple needed to hear. In January 2015, a nurse in Steliga’s clinic signed them up for UAMS’ smoking cessation program. They got personal encouragement from a coach who regularly checked on their progress, and they had the option to use nicotine patches and lozenges. UAMS’ clinic-based smoking cessation program is open to any patient ready to quit tobacco.
“I still have cravings and have to keep myself busy,” Herla admitted, adding that the key to success is desire. “You have to want to quit. You’ve really got to get your head around it.”
Sharon said she now has a “whole new lifestyle,” feels full of energy and walks one hour every day. She credits the staff at UAMS for not only pulling them through cancer, but also getting them off cigarettes for good.
“Dr. Steliga was straightforward, supportive and caring. The whole staff was wonderful. I would recommend the Cancer Institute to anyone,” she said.