Key Takeaways
- Shortly after retirement, Jim went into the hospital for pneumonia, but they found something else—lung cancer.
- Jim had squamous cell lung carcinoma in his right lung and was given eight treatments of stereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT. It worked.
- Then a year later, Jim a scan found a second nodule in the left lung. This time, he only needed three rounds of the high-tech treatment.
- Providence Clackamas Radiation Oncology Center is one of the few centers in the region that offer SBRT technology.
In 2023, Jim Bohrer had just retired from a long and fulfilling career in the baking industry. He had run his own business and held many high-level positions that took him around the world. He and his wife Angie had raised five children, owned and rode horses and managed their large rural property in Clackamas County, OR.
Jim was looking forward to slowing down. "I waited until age 70 to take advantage of full retirement benefits,” he said. “I was keeping my fingers crossed, trying to do the right things to stay healthy.”
He had quit smoking a couple of years earlier after a COPD diagnosis. This was a major change for someone who had grown up in a family where smoking was a part of life.
But just as he was settling into a new post-career rhythm, life threw a curveball. “Shortly after I retired, I got pneumonia,” Jim said. “And it saved my life.”
An unexpected discovery
In November 2023, Jim was checked into a hospital with difficulty breathing. A CT scan confirmed he had pneumonia, but it also found a nodule in his upper right lung.
With a severe infection still raging, Jim’s medical team couldn't immediately assess whether the nodule was benign or something more serious. It was two months before he was well enough to have a follow-up scan. The results were concerning: the mass had grown to the size of a plum.
Jim underwent a bronchoscopy, a procedure where a camera scope is passed down the throat for viewing the lungs. He also had a biopsy, which confirmed squamous cell lung carcinoma. This type of cancer begins in the cells lining the bronchi. Left untreated, it can spread to the lymph nodes and through the blood to other parts of the body.
Advanced treatment, close to home
Although surgical removal of a cancerous lung nodule is the most common first-line treatment, Jim’s lungs had been battered by the pneumonia and were still healing. Instead, his pulmonologist, Joaquin Chapa, M.D., of The Oregon Clinic, referred Jim for radiation therapy.
Jim met Alice Wang-Chesebro, M.D., radiation oncologist and medical director at Providence Clackamas Radiation Oncology Center, and began a personalized treatment plan using stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) or SRS. The state-of-the-art treatment delivers high doses of radiation in tiny beams of energy that target the tumor. Clackamas Radiation Oncology Center is one of the few centers in the region with this level of technology.
Jim’s treatment required that he lie on a padded table while the machine rotated silently around him, delivering radiation from multiple angles. He had eight treatment sessions over two weeks and each session took about one hour.
Dr. Wang-Chesebro explained that advancements in radiation therapy technology make it possible for many patients to receive treatment on a compressed schedule. “We used to treat most lung cancers over six or seven weeks of radiation,” she said. “Now if we're treating a focused area, like in Jim’s case, we can concentrate the treatment.”
Jim had a remarkably positive response to the SBRT treatment. The tumor shrank, and the only side effect was a bad sore throat that lasted for two weeks. Follow-up scans in the months after treatment showed the tumor in Jim’s lung was shrinking. He felt better and was able to get back to working on his classic cars and spending more time with his grandkids.
Second bout with cancer, different lung
In spring 2025, Jim started experiencing shortness of breath combined with a racing heart. A scan showed a new nodule had developed, this time in the left lung. A follow-up scan a month later revealed the nodule had grown. But unlike the one in his right lung, the new nodule was adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer that starts in the glands of the body.
“This can happen to people with a history of using tobacco,” says Dr. Wang-Chesebro. “The cancer a person gets today is not from something they did last week. It may be from what happened 10 or 20 years ago.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) nearly nine out of 10 lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking cigarettes or secondhand smoke exposure. This is because chemicals in tobacco smoke can damage or change a cell’s DNA. When DNA is damaged by cigarette smoke or other environmental toxins, a cell can grow out of control, creating a cancer tumor.
Luckily, the second nodule in Jim’s lung was caught at an early stage, and Dr. Wang-Chesebro was able to treat it with radiation therapy. In July 2025, Jim received five radiation treatments without any side effects.
At last, enjoying retired life
Jim is feeling like himself again. He’s back to enjoying his life in retirement, which means spending lots of time with his grandkids and tinkering with his classic cars.
“Jim has a very positive can-do, attitude,” says Dr. Wang-Chesebro. “He -listened to recommendations and did what he needed to do to get through it. I think that helped.”
Jim is grateful for the speed and quality of care he received from Dr. Wang- Chesebro and the entire team at Clackamas Radiation Oncology Center. “This was probably one of the most professional offices that I've ever been in. The people in the office were organized, caring and courteous. It's really an impressive operation.”
Game-changing radiation technology in Clackamas County
Providence Clackamas Radiation Oncology Center is a collaboration between Providence Cancer Institute and The Oregon Clinic Division of Radiation Oncology, where patients find expert care close to home. Our team combines advanced technology with a personal touch, guiding each patient through cancer treatment with compassion and a smile. Find out more.
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