Lung Cancer: Journey of Grace

Jan Jensky has worked at the Los Altos United Methodist Church since 1987. A mother of five, she still had two teenagers at home when her husband passed away in 1991, so at age 53 she went back to school to earn her college degree and certification in human resource management. In 2000, Jan was named director of human resources for the church's 80-person staff.

In the fall of 2005, Jan started to experience some chest pains and an unusual tingling in one breast. Dr. Stephen Nichols, her primary care physician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation's Mountain View Center, ordered a chest X-ray and CT scan that revealed what appeared to be cancer that had spread to both of Jan's lungs. When a subsequent biopsy by pulmonary specialist Alan Chausow confirmed the diagnosis, Jan was referred to medical oncologist Peter Yu.

"It didn't look too good. All five of my adult children and their spouses crowded into Dr. Yu's office with me to ask what, if anything, could be done," Jan, who was 63 at that time, recalled. "He had taken a closer look at the studies and concluded that I had two different cancers: one in the right lower lobe and another in the left upper lobe."

Dr. Yu brought in cardiothoracic surgeon Conrad Vial, who recommended operating on one lung at a time. Jan went in for her first surgery on Valentine's Day 2006 and had the second surgery six weeks later, followed by chemotherapy. Two weeks after each surgery, she was back to walking her dog and working out at the gym, as Dr. Vial had advised her to do. "I worked full-time between surgeries and never missed a day at work during chemotherapy," Jan said. "On the days I had chemo, I'd work in the morning, have my treatment in the afternoon, be sick at night and then be back at work the next morning."

Since finishing treatments, Jan has had annual CT scans to check for any recurrence of her cancer. In 2009, she celebrated three years of being cancer-free. "I owe it all to the fact that I had a group of doctors looking after me—not just one," she said. "It started with my primary care physician, and each doctor kept referring me along to the next specialist, all of them sharing information every step of the way. It's the gathering of such brilliant minds that makes us so lucky to have this extraordinary group of doctors right here in our community."

Back to top