LOS ANGELES — Daily walks with her pet bird Flash on her shoulder are a health priority for Yudy Machado. But she says she used to smoke up to a pack per day.

“I loved to smoke. I tried for years to stop, but I hadn’t been able,” Machado said.

Despite being active and not having any specific symptoms of lung cancer last year, she says her doctor recommended she get a CT scan as part of a preventative lung cancer screening. Machado says it was that screening that ultimately helped her doctors catch and remove a lung cancer mass early. Most people with lung cancer don’t experience symptoms until the disease is more advanced, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Going to do this test opened my eyes that even if you don’t smoke or you are around somebody that smokes or you don’t smoke, maybe you work in construction, it would be good to have a checkup for your lungs because you will never know if you have cancer,” she said.

The American Cancer Society recommends annual screenings for people who are 50-80 years old who smoke or used to smoke. But UCLA Health thoracic oncologist Dr. Amy Cummings says preventative screenings are underutilized.  

“California has done amazing in terms of smoking cessation. We have one of the lowest rates of smoking in the entire country. But when we took a look to see how many people are eligible for lung cancer screening and getting it, we were actually the worst state in the entire country,” Cummings said. “We were only scanning 1% of people who were eligible. Now, the national average at that time isn’t great either. It’s only 6%.”

Now, a $2.5 million grant to the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in collaboration with two hospitals, Northridge Hospital Medical Center in the San Fernando Valley and St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, could change that to reach underserved populations.

“The populations that tend to have a higher smoking rate tend to have Medi-Cal or Medicaid insurance and so that means that they don’t necessarily have clear pathways to care as some people with other types of insurance," said Cummings. "That’s one of the biggest things we have to fix. We have to make sure there is insurance equity and that we can get a patient, no matter their insurance status, the right care."

After nine months post-surgery, Machado says she’s finally on her newest health journey.

“That opened my eyes and somehow encouraged me to stop smoking," she said. "I believe this surgery was for something good."