Cynthia Collin and Dr. Ben Schlechter join the show

• Cynthia was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2017 when she was only 35. She had two young children at the time, her son was 8 and daughter was 6, 
• Given her age, cancer was the last thing she suspected. She wasn’t feeling well, had stomach pain and was unexpectedly losing weight. She went to her doctor and kept following up with them because she knew something was off. Eventually after having some tests, she was shocked to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 
• She had a surgery known as a Whipple procedure and then was monitored to see if the disease came back. In November 2020 she found out the cancer came back and she underwent another surgery. 
• She has been in remission for the last year. Her kids are now ages 14 and 11. 
• Cynthia says that she feel lucky because early in her cancer journey she felt lucky because she had symptoms that she didn’t ignore. Many people with pancreatic cancer don’t experience symptoms at all. 
• She works as a regional manager at Atrius Health. 

Dr. Ben Schlechter 

• He is a medical oncologist who specializes in gastrointestinal cancers including colorectal cancer, anal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and neuroendocrine cancers, among others. He is a former intern, resident, chief resident and fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as well as a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School. 
• In the past he was the Director of Inpatient Hematology and Oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as well as the Assistant Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. His work at Dana-Farber focuses on providing excellent patient care while trying to advance the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer patients.