On Nov. 27, 2011, former NFL linebacker Chris Draft married longtime NBA dancer, LaKeasha Rutledge in a beautiful wedding ceremony in Atlanta. One month later, his 38-year-old wife died from stage-four lung cancer, having never smoked a cigarette in her life.
Draft visited The Nebraska Medical Center on June 4, bringing his message to Omaha. While here, he visited with lung cancer specialists and patients, discussing awareness, treatment options and research.
During his career in the NFL, Draft spent time with the Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins.
In remembering his wife, Draft said: “She was very healthy. Keasha danced in the NBA for a number of years. Then, one day she had a little shortness of breath. Her primary care doctor did a chest X-ray and found a mass on her left lung. She was diagnosed with lung cancer on Dec. 27, 2010.”
Keasha’s battle with the disease lasted exactly one year. During that time, she and her husband founded Team Draft, a national campaign to raise awareness about lung cancer.
“Survivorship is our main focus,” Draft said. “Lung cancer is often seen as a smoking disease, but we want people to know that it can happen to anyone.”
Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women. In women, it causes more deaths than breast and ovarian cancer combined. When caught at an early stage, lung cancer is curable. But, most tumors don’t cause any symptoms until they’ve spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body.
“Currently, about 75 percent of patients diagnosed with lung cancer are diagnosed with either advanced or metastatic disease and that limits their treatment options,” said Rudy Lackner, M.D., thoracic surgeon for UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center. “But, if you catch the cancer early, there are a variety of different treatments, including surgery or radiation. When found early, lung cancer has a 90 percent cure rate.”
To help patients identify the disease early, the med center offers a lung cancer screening program at the Village Pointe Cancer Center in west Omaha for individuals who meet the proper criteria:
- Smokers and former smokers;
- 20-pack history, smoking one pack a day for 20 years or two packs a day for 10 years; and
- Patient must be at least 50 years old.
By participating in the lung cancer screening program, patients have access to an entire team of doctors and nurses who are skilled in evaluating, diagnosing and treating lung cancer.
“Do not wait. Get checked out,” Draft said. “This disease can happen to anyone, but it is treatable.
“The last time I was in Omaha, I was part of the Stanford baseball team for the 1995 College World Series. I am excited to come back and help change the face of lung cancer.”