Patient Spotlight Reagan Bollig, MD, Lung Cancer When medical center surgeon, Reagan Bollig, MD, learned that he had lung cancer, he experienced surgery and cancer treatment from the patient’s perspective for the first time. While making his rounds one day last year, Bollig experienced what he thought to be kidney stones. He checked himself into the Emergency Department between patients, and his doctor called him the next day and suggested that they do a CT scan. The scan revealed a mass on Bollig’s lung, and Ben Bevill, MD from Pulmonary and Critical Care was called in to perform a Robotic Guided Transbronchial biopsy. The procedure determined that the mass was cancerous. Just three days after receiving his diagnosis, Bollig, his wife, son and family friends embarked on a two-week vacation out West, a trip that had been planned for months. “I knew that a week after I got back, my chest was going to be cut open,” Bollig said. However, at that time, he did not know how aggressive the cancer might be. On the trip, he, his family, and their friends hit all the spots they’d planned, including Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Zion, Moab and Breckenridge. They indulged in road snacks, played games and listened
to music. “But when I’d walk the dog at night alone,” he said, “that’s the time that I would reflect and really appreciate the time we had together as a family. You can’t help but think, ‘I hope I have more.’” Upon returning home, Bollig reported to the hospital for surgery. Thoracic surgeon Sean Jordan, MD, hoped that he could remove the cancer by taking one small segment of the lung, but it was possible that he’d have to take the entire lobe. Fortunately, Jordan discovered that the mass was more mobile than he originally thought, and very little of his lung had to be removed. The biopsy yielded the best possible results – the cancer was low-grade, not aggressive and not growing. An avid runner and cyclist, Dr. Bollig found the recovery process to be slower than expected. “I couldn’t run for a long time,” he said. “I used to tell patients, ‘You’ll be tired for a couple of weeks,’ but now, I really know what to say to them. I lived it,” he said.
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