Office of Community Outreach, Engagement, and Equity | |
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ANDREA ASKINS IS ON A MISSION TO PREVENT PANCREATIC CANCER
"My life changed forever when I heard, ‘Your dad has six months to live,’” recalls Andrea Askins, a Lead Talent Acquisition Partner at UT Southwestern. It was September 2021, and her father, Robert Fonseca, had just been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, the most common type of pancreatic cancer. Eight weeks later – on November 10, 2021 – Andrea’s father died at the age of 63.
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Discovering Cancer
Andrea remembers her dad – a former Marine lance corporal – as a “cool, charismatic guy.” When he walked into a room, “people would immediately gravitate to him,” Andrea says. He was “funny and charming,” with a magnetic smile matched by a great singing voice and a talent for playing the piano and saxophone. “He was always singing hymns and had music going. We had a very musical home.”
In January 2021, Robert was working for Papa Johns, driving an 18-wheeler to company stores in Houston and College Station. At each stop, Robert would load several 200-pound pallets of pizza dough onto a dolly, roll it out of the refrigerated big rig, and unload the pallets in a Papa Johns store. When Robert developed nagging back pain and began losing weight, he and his doctors assumed the symptoms were work-related. An annual PET scan to check for recurrence of the Hodgkin’s lymphoma Robert had been diagnosed with in 2016 showed no signs of a tumor growing in his pancreas.
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To learn more about pancreatic cancer, watch this episode of
UT Southwestern's What to Know series:
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MEET CHEYLA CLARK, GENETIC COUNSELOR
November 10 is Genetic Counselor Awareness Day, a time to recognize the important role genetic counselors play in helping patients and families understand their risk of developing cancer, as well as their options for prevention, early detection, and treatment.
We asked Cheyla Clark, a board-certified genetic counselor at Simmons Cancer Center, about the genetic counseling process and her path to becoming a genetic counselor.
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For more on cancer genetics, watch Cheyla's presentation to
Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship's Cancer Support Group:
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IT'S LUNG CANCER AWARENESS MONTH: HAVE YOU SCHEDULED YOUR SCREENING?
Simmons Cancer Center is marking Lung Cancer Awareness Month by offering a Saturday schedule of lung cancer screenings on November 19 at both our main Dallas campus and our Fort Worth campus at Moncrief Cancer Institute.
Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death. But we now have a lung cancer screening test that helps save lives by finding lung cancer at an early stage, when treatment has the best chance of succeeding.
You may be eligible to take advantage of our low-dose CT screening for lung cancer if you:
- Are 50 to 80 years old
- Currently smoke or have quit in the past 15 years
- Have at least a 20 pack-year smoking history*
What should you do to prepare for your screening?
- Talk with your doctor about the benefits and limits of screening with low-dose CT scans.
- Ask your insurance provider if a referral is needed.
How do you schedule? Call 214-645-3291 to make an appointment at Simmons Cancer Center in Dallas. For an appointment at Simmons’ Moncrief Cancer Institute in Fort Worth, call 817-288-9846.
Quitting smoking can lower your risk of lung cancer. If you need help quitting, contact Simmons’ Nicotine Cessation Program at 833-722-6237 or NicotineCessationProgram@utsouthwestern.edu.
*A pack-year history is the number of packs smoked per day multiplied by the number of years smoked. Someone who smoked 2 packs a day for 10 years would have a 20 pack-year smoking history (2 x 10 = 20), and so would a person who smoked 1 pack a day for 20 years (1 x 20 = 20).
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You're Invited: Community Events | | |
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FREE Mammograms – Moncrief Mobile Screening
During November, Simmons’ Moncrief Cancer Institute will take its mobile screening clinic to the following locations to provide free mammograms for uninsured women who qualify. Call 817-288-9970 to schedule an appointment on one of the following dates.
Saturday, November 12, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Evans Avenue Plaza, 1050 Evans Avenue
Fort Worth, TX 76104
Tuesday, November 15, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Central YMCA, 2200 W. Davis Street
Arlington, TX 76001
Saturday, November 19, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Mercy Clinic, 800 W. Berry Street
Fort Worth, TX 76110
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Visit the Office of Community Outreach, Engagement, and Equity to learn more about our mission to reduce the cancer burden in North Texas and promote equity in cancer prevention, care, and outcomes through research, education, and engagement, particularly for racially and ethnically diverse, rural, and other underserved communities.
See how you can join us!
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For newsletter questions, comments, or suggestions, email Renee.Barber@UTSouthwestern.edu. | | | | |
