Print
Share page with AddThis

Aimee's Story: A Colorectal Cancer Awareness Program

Wilkes-Barre City Mayor George C. Brown recently announced the City of Wilkes-Barre’s partnership with the Wilkes-Barre City Health Department, King’s College, Wilkes University, Misericordia University, Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County Community College, Geisinger College of Health Sciences, Commonwealth Health Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, and Gastroenterologist Dr. Thomas Mangan to host Aimee's Story: A Colorectal Cancer Awareness Program on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at Burke Auditorium in the McGowan School of Business, King’s College, located on the corner of North River St. and West Union St.

Mayor Brown’s daughter, Aimee Kearney, shared her journey from discovering that she had colorectal cancer, through treatment, surgeries, and recovery to becoming cancer-free. She hopes that her story will inspire other young adults to know the symptoms and get screened.

View Aimee's Story here.
Produced by Misericordia Univeristy.

 

The program also included a panel discussion featuring physicians from Geisinger and Commonwealth Health. The discussion will be led by Wilkes-Barre native Thomas Mangan, M.D., a Emeritus Gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Geisinger physicians included Julie Jiang, MD, radiation oncology; Thomas Erchinger, MD, colon and rectal surgery; Ahmad Hanif, MD, hematology oncology; and Duane Deivert, DO, gastroenterology. Commonwealth Health physicians included Karthik Penumetsa, M.D., Gastroenterology and Essam Almeky, M.D., Family Medicine.
 

View the physicians' panel discussion here, recorded by King's College and view the program presentation here.

 

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Data suggests that Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) has a higher rate of colorectal cancer. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in our state, behind lung cancer. The program aims to provide attendees with better awareness of the symptoms of colorectal cancer, importance of knowing one’s family history with colorectal cancer, and the need to start screening as early as age 45.