I Smoked for 30 Years. AI Helped Save My Life (Exclusive)

After 30 years, Susan Riffle finally kicked her smoking habit. Three years later, her doctor suggested the now 63-year-old have a preventative CT scan. The test showed a grape-sized lesion on the left lung of the Augusta, Ga. florist. But it wasn't necessarily cancer; the lesion could have been histoplasmisis, an infection caused by bird droppings in the soil found near where she used to live .

Her doctor entered Riffle's age, how many years she had smoked and her CT scan imaging into artificial intelligence software, which gives a predictive score between 1 and 10 as to the likelihood of cancer. The number 1 means the risk is 2%, while a 10 means the risk is 93%.

Riffle’s result was an 8, meaning there was a 64% chance the lesion was cancer. “It really surprised me,” says Dr. Daniel Miller, 66, Director of the Lung Cancer Screening Program at the Georgia Cancer Center.

Because of the AI software, he ordered a PET scan. That's when Dr. Miller told Riffle it was probably lung cancer. On January 11, 2024, Riffle had surgery. A biopsy was done, and a pathologist confirmed the AI’s diagnosis: She had stage 1B lung cancer. Miller performed a lobectomy, removing the lower lobe of her lung and all the lymph nodes.

“Lung cancer is still the No. 1 cause of cancer deaths in the United States since 1986 for both men and women," Miller says. "In Georgia, every two hours, someone dies of lung cancer.”

Without the AI software, Miller says he would have suggested a repeat scan in three to six months, but the software helped “expedite diagnosis and treatment.” Riffle was diagnosed at stage 1, whereas 75% of lung cancers are diagnosed at stage 3 or 4, according to Miller.

Riffle shares her story with PEOPLE’s Wendy Grossman Kantor.

I was a smoker off and on almost 30 years. I started as a teenager. I stopped when I was pregnant with my children and then I would start again.

I hid it from my children always. I never smoked a cigarette in front of my children. I always stepped outside. I'm sure they knew I smoked. You can smell it. If I'm standing out in the garage and quickly put out a cigarette or hide it behind my back, they're not stupid.

A few years ago, I decided I was ready to quit. I was tired of breathing heavily and I wasn't as active as I wanted to be, running on the beach or hiking in the woods.

I would take trips with my girlfriends who were nonsmokers, and I'd be the one outside while everyone else was inside playing games and having fun. I wasn't a pack-a-day smoker, but after we'd go out to dinner, I'd be the one to step outside to have a cigarette before we headed back for the evening.

I also felt like I had to plan the trip around cigarettes, make sure I have enough to go for a four-day trip, which is terrible. I was realizing these things and how smoking was occupying my time and my health. I was done. I just needed to stop and take better care of myself.

Breathing was also an issue. I wasn’t able to breathe well. I could never take a deep breath. I was using an inhaler daily, and that's not good. I knew I could breathe well on my own by quitting smoking. I had become very aware of my lack of breathing capacity.

I quit smoking in October 2020.

After I quit, one of my girlfriends said, "Susan, you don't wheeze anymore. You sound great." And I was finally able to keep up with her quick pace when we went walking.

I had been smoke-free for three years when my family physician suggested that it was time to do a CT scan for proactive health care. And of course I agreed.

I had a CT scan December 11, 2023. My lung doctor, Dr. MIller, ran my test through the AI software.

I took notes every meeting that Dr. Miller and I had together. He said the nodule was the size of a green grape. I felt very well-informed. He said: These are your options. This is what it is. Let's make a decision together.

Learning the AI said “cancer” was scary. But I'm a proactive person. I'm the type of person who says, "Well, let's just get in there, get it out, and be done with it. Let's treat it so we can move forward." I do not dwell and cry, "Oh, poor me." Tell me what we need to do, and I will do it. And that's what we did. Dr. Miller explained the surgery. We would do a biopsy once we got in there, which would determine how much would be removed. And that was all explained to me ahead of time. It was worrisome and concerning, but we had a plan. That, to me, is the most important thing.

My surgery was January 11, 2024.

The decision to do one surgery and biopsy at that time — as opposed to doing a biopsy, closing me up, analyzing that, and then going back for more surgery if necessary — it just made sense to me. Let's just try to do surgery once, as opposed to prolonging the procedure.

When I came out of anesthesia, I had a wonderful nurse who was there to take care of me, and I remember her to this day. I was in a little pain, of course, but Dr. Miller and the many others on his team came to visit me and there was constant communication.

The day after surgery, I was in my hospital bed and the sun was coming in and I just snapped a selfie and sent it to my family, and they were like, "Oh, you had surgery? Where are your wrinkles? How do you look so good?" Now, maybe they were all being nice, but it was uplifting and supportive. I'm fortunate. I just had a great network of friends and family around.

I only spent two days in the hospital.

The biggest thing my husband Randy, 64, and two daughters Kelsey Earnest, 31, and Samantha Riffle, 28, did, was just be there for me. Kelsey, a traveling radiation therapist, was out of state but came home and spent a full week helping me recover. Both daughters did the cooking, cleaning and bandage changes. Samantha, a beverage manager at a restaurant and pet portrait artist, lives just across the river in North Augusta, so she continued to come every day after Kelsey left for another two weeks. Randy took over in the evenings and after that. (He was actually the best at changing bandages.)

Right away I made sure I was moving. Every day I changed my clothes and dressed and came downstairs and walked around the house.

I don't like to be sedentary. I have trouble sitting through a manicure and pedicure. I like to get up and move — I just know that's better for you. If you just sit and watch TV, or read a book for six or eight weeks, you're not going to feel well for a really long time.

I have very minimal scars. As a matter of fact, when I went for a mammogram a few months after the surgery, the technician said, "Well, where are your scars? I expected a huge scar, you had lung surgery." And I have a few three-inch scars.

I was fortunate enough to be back up and out at seven or eight weeks post-op, and I was back to work, being a productive person and walking and exercising and breathing air without any other treatments.

The fact that I haven't had to have any radiation or chemotherapy is fantastic. It is amazing that we caught it and were able to remove enough to determine that I didn't have to have those treatments.

 Today I feel very well. I have no complaints and I have no limitations.

Randy and I joined Kelsey and her husband on a trip to the Grand Canyon last summer. That was a real test because of the higher elevations and the thin air. I did have to take a few breaks. But you just stop and take few deep breaths and then keep going. It was wonderful.

The fact that I am able to do that, that I'm still here, is because of Dr. Miller and the team and the hospital and AI. I have a normal life again after a relatively short time.

Randy is still a smoker.

We have all been pressuring him, but you can't make anybody stop smoking. They have to be in the headspace to stop. You can read every book, you can read the literature, you can try cold turkey. You can do all kinds of things, but until you yourself are ready to commit and come up with a plan — or two or three — because it usually doesn't work the first time or first three times, you won't quit.

He’s not ready to quit. He's not there.

He did get a prescription for Chantix recently. And he’s in the yearly screening program at the Georgia Cancer Center, and his doctor monitors him. I think he's close to retirement. I ask him, "So what are you going to do? Sit around and smoke cigarettes all day?" Hopefully, quitting will be one of his goals. I hope.

My cancer was caught early. It was stage 1B. If we waited another six months, who knows what could have happened?

I feel very fortunate to have had the advantage of the AI to look at my scans. It saved my life. It certainly saved me from what potentially could have been a horrible diagnosis down the road.

I think a lot of people don't get scanned because they're afraid. What if? What if? But like I said, if you find something early and you make a plan, you can take care of it. I think education and trying to tell people it doesn't all have to be so fearful is important. Yes, it is a frightening diagnosis, but caught early, many cancers can be taken care of completely

Get those screenings. If a medical professional suggests a screening, just do it. That would be my advice. Don't be afraid. Just do it and deal with whatever is found out.

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