Oral Cancer News

Source: www.soaps.com
Author: staff

Congratulations to the cast and crew of As The World Turns for their nomination for a 2008 Sentinel for Health Award! The Barbara/Cancer storyline was nominated.

The Sentinel for Health awards recognize television storylines, both Primetime and Daytime, that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives. A panel of experts from the Centers for Disease Control, National Cancer Institute and partner organizations evaluate the nominees to develop a list of finalists. The finalists are then chosen based on entertainment value and benefit to the viewing audience.

The awards are part of the Norman Lear Center, a research center which studies the impact of entertainment on society.

Barbara’s oral cancer storyline was actually brought about because of Colleen Zenk Pinter’s (Barbara) real life battle with oral cancer. Last fall, after weeks of fans asking about the change in her speech patterns, Colleen announced that she had been battling oral cancer for months; when she was diagnosed, doctors found that she had stage two oral cancer. Colleen underwent three surgeries and actually had part of her tongue removed and reconstructed. She has been in remission for a year now.

On the show, Barbara has been battling the same cancer with rounds of chemotherapy. One of her doctors recently told Babs she was responding well and she has returned to her life before the diagnosis. However, she has also been very preoccupied with Paul’s money problems, Meg’s current pregnancy and has been ignoring her own health. Does this spell trouble for Babs? It certainly could but as of now, the cancer storyline isn’t in the forefront of her storyline.

Soaps.com recently had the chance to chat with Colleen about the cancer storyline; she said her own cancer scare helped her add to the on-screen story.

“It’s one of those rare, rare, rare occasions where because, yes, I experienced this in real life and have a lot more expertise on the subject matter than the writers ever could, that when we first started talking about it. . .I sat down with them and told them point by point my entire story, you know down to the smallest, minute little detail.”

So far those personal experiences have added another layer of depth to the story. Fans around the world have written in to Soaps.com to ask how Colleen is doing in real life and to say how much the storyline has impacted their feelings about cancer.