Partners NE WS F R O M LMH HE A LTH F O U NDATI ON
Winter 2020
LMH Health West Campus now open
Rendering of a DNA strand
© ISTOCKPHOTO
Genetic testing, preventive care at LMH Health change the course of local family’s lives
© 2020 PULSE DESIGN GROUP
The LMH Health West Campus, located near Rock Chalk Park in northwest Lawrence, officially opened on September 14. The new campus is a regional destination for world-class healthcare across many outpatient services, including surgery,
Genetic testing and preventative cancer screening at LMH Health changed the course of several lives of one local family. Last year, Cindy Fritzel visited LMH Health for a routine
orthopedics, women’s health and family medicine. We are grateful to our donors who helped make this possible.
3D mammogram and a cancerous tumor was identified. Because her father was also battling cancer at the time, Fritzel’s oncologist, Dr. Sherri Soule, encouraged her to do genetic testing. The results of the test would determine the best treatment for her breast cancer. The result came back positive for BRCA-2, a gene that increases the risk of female breast and ovarian cancers, as well as recurrence of cancer over a lifetime. The BRCA-2 gene led Fritzel’s LMH Health care team to recommend a double mastectomy, rather than a lumpectomy or radiation treatment. Fritzel’s positive BRCA-2 result led her parents, her daughters and her brother to participate in genetic testing. Her father, two daughters and brother were also positive for the gene. Fritzel’s daughters began their preventative testing, including mammograms, which are recommended for women starting at age 40. —continued inside
“Genetic testing changed everything. It saved lives in my immediate family.” —Cindy Fritzel