Radiation oncologist Peter Locken, M.D., (right) and Frank Crider, A.R.N.P., spend time with Dottie Key at a recent appointment.

As a retired nurse in Alabama, Dottie Key knew how important good healthcare was for the sick. When she was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in 2002, she moved to Paducah to get good care at Western Baptist.

“I had visited a doctor here in Paducah while visiting my son,” she said. “They were so nice to me and so thorough that when I returned home, I had my local doctor set me up here.”

Key began her first round of chemotherapy under the care of oncologist James Gould, M.D., in January 2002 to shrink the tumor in her right lung and lymph nodes. Radiation therapy followed.

During a routine chest X-ray in July 2006, she was diagnosed with another cancer—adenocarcinoma— this time in her left lung. She received more radiation.

“Having two unrelated cancers is not common, but it does happen,” said Peter Locken, M.D., radiation oncologist at Western Baptist.

The cancer in her right lung is in remission, and the tumor in her left lung is not growing. Therefore, she hopes she does not require any further treatment.

However, she does not want her relationships with Dr. Locken, nurse practitioner Frank Crider and the staff to end.

“They have all been really good to me,” Key said. “I don’t think I would have received this kind of care if I had stayed in Alabama.”

For more information on the Center for Cancer Care or a free copy of Western Baptist’s annual Oncology Report, phone Baptist Health Line at (270) 575-2918.