Wesley Knight  0:00  
This is a KU NV studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Tanya Flanagan  0:19  
Good morning and thank you for joining me for the scoop with Tanya Flanagan, I'm so happy you decided to wake up and start your day with me here on the scoop, where we talk about life, joy, funny moments, trending topics and so much more. We promise to keep you in the know and find out what you know. So let's get started. You Good

Tanya Flanagan  0:47  
morning Las Vegas, and welcome to another edition of the scoop with me. Tonya Flanagan, right here on KU envy, 91.5 jazz and more. As always, I am delighted to have you wake up so early on a Sunday morning to enjoy the conversation. And I try to always bring you interesting people with interesting information to learn about. And today, we are in the midst of Women's History Month. It is March. We are in very warm, prematurely warm weather. We're probably in some places feeling like we're about to die, but I, you know, suggest that you hydrate as much as possible. But because we're in Women's History Month, I like to take advantage of that and have a really important conversation. So I have two very special guests in the studio with me. I'm happy to welcome Miss Tia Mathis Coleman to the show, who is one of the board members for the American Cancer Society. So we're talking about cancer, various aspects of it today. So I hope you find the conversation interesting, but she's an ambassador for the voices of black women advocacy outreach campaign that the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network is doing. And I also have in the studio latosha neether, who is a grassroots advocacy manager with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. So it's a delight to welcome both of you to the show. Good morning. Good morning.

Tya Mathis-Coleman  2:04  
Thank you for having us so. Tia,

Tanya Flanagan  2:07  
it's exciting. I'm a cancer survivor, so I'm always welcome the opportunity to talk and bring awareness to people. Tell us a little bit more about you and how you found yourself in this space. And I know I introduced you as a board member for the American Cancer Society. But anyone who knows you, and many do not. But for those who do, let me tell you, folks. Tia Mathis Coleman wears like a million hats, and sometimes I look at you and I wonder, how do you do it? And always with a smile on your face, and always there was so fashionable and wonderful.

Tya Mathis-Coleman  2:35  
Thank you. I appreciate you. So my day job is actually I work for the Nevada treasurer's office. I am a deputy treasurer that oversees our college savings division, which is there to help families plan and save and eventually pay for post secondary education. So very passionate about the work. Enjoy going into the community and sharing all of the free tools and resources that the Nevada Treasurer's Office has for families. I found the American Cancer Society years ago, my mother was diagnosed with cancer when I was about five years old, and I remember vividly my sister and I, we were we were young, but we knew that our mom was very sick. And back then, breast cancer was almost a death sentence. Not a lot of people who had breast cancer survived breast cancer, and so our mom would kind of talk to us, but she would talk to us in a way that was like her fear versus like her educate educating us on it, and it's because they didn't have a lot of education on it. So over the years, she did survive, and she went through many surgeries and reconstruction, and as we got older, that's when the conversations and the education started, and she would show us her her scar, and talk to us about cancer. And you know, as we became young women, she would talk to us about prevention and things that we could do to make sure that we were well. And we would always do the breast cancer walks every year, and we would fundraise, and it was always a thing that we all advocated for. And so a few years back, I was asked to be a member of the Nevada chapter, or the Nevada board for the American Cancer Society. So I've sat on the board now for approximately two years, and I went to a national American Cancer Society training very early on in my board service. And I heard all about the voices for black women campaign that they were starting. And I said to our executive director here, I said, we need this in Nevada, and I'm happy to help in any way. And that's how I became an ambassador here locally for the for the study.

Tanya Flanagan  4:43  
Well, well, thank you for sharing all of that and for just telling us so much about how you found yourself in this space. And I'm really excited to know and I know your mom, so I always love to hear her story. I know she's such a warrior champion. So still being here with us to. Talked to other women about breast cancer, what she did to survive, and you are right at the time when Dr Mathis would have been diagnosed was I lost my mom as well to breast cancer when I was 29 years old, and she was diagnosed when I was very young. She began that portion of the battle when I was about 14, and research just had not come to where it is today to allow women to have better outcomes, so that your mom is still here with us is a true testament to faith, hard work, and just maybe you know her particular case, but it's nice that she is still here. Also in the studio with us today is latosha nether and I introduced her earlier, but I'd like to give her a chance to talk a little bit more about herself, so then that way you'll know who T is. You'll know who latoshka is, and before we get into the conversation, you get a sense of who's who's sharing with you today.

Latoschka Nether  5:52  
Thank you. And I feel like even with American Cancer Society, I wear a few different hats part of the work that I do with the organization in my, in my full time position, is working on advocacy and policy for all things cancer related, both statewide and federally. So that's, that's the real, real job. The passion project for me is working on the voices project with the other side of our organization. A few years ago, when this project rolled out, we were having conversations and the number of women that we needed to participate in this study, which in the beginning and just thinking about it, sounded like, oh, that should be easy, we should not have a problem until we started doing the deep dive to understand all of the things around black women and participation and willingness to participate, and all of the things that go with that. So knowing that I have had women in my family, including my first cousin, who passed away at 40 after having two children and two bouts of breast cancer. But there weren't, you know, the things available to her that now we're seeing so trying to get women to share those experiences and those pieces of their family history and pieces of their lives are important, and it's just become a major passion project for me, which is why joining the board and helping to facilitate that is important.

Tanya Flanagan  7:27  
I want to make sure our listening audience has a clear picture. Because you have both talked about and I have mentioned the term voices of black women as it relates to cancer, and so we've alluded that it's a study. One of you talk a little bit about exactly what the study is, who's eligible for the study, how it works, and why are you can ping pong. Because that was like four questions. So I will not make one person answer. We ping pong four questions, but I think between the two of you, you have pretty good rhythm, and you can ping pong. So what is the voices of black women's study?

Tya Mathis-Coleman  7:59  
So the voices of black women study is a study that is being sponsored by the American Cancer Society. I think that's first and foremost, and I think it's really they should be applauded for First of all, taking the initiative to do this study. The problem is, or the challenge is, that we are seeking 100,000 African American women to participate in this study. And so we are looking for individuals between the ages of 25 to 55 who have never been diagnosed with cancer. And so many of us know somewhat, many of us know people who have been diagnosed, right? But we need to find individuals who have never yet been diagnosed with cancer age 25 to 55 so a lot of times when we're out there, we've done events, or we're on panels and we're talking, we find that either people are not 25 to 55 or they've already been diagnosed with cancer. And so for those of you that are listening, if you are 25 to 55 and you haven't been diagnosed, you would be perfect for this study. My sister and I, we are between those ages, and so we both, I've convinced her to participate. Another thing that people should know is that you don't have to be here in Nevada. You can be anywhere. We need women across the United States to participate in this study. So if you have a cousin or a sister, if you have you know anybody that you know, a neighbor, someone from your church, tell them about the study, because we need people to sign up for the study. I think another challenge is that this isn't like a five minute study, right? They are going to ask you to take a deep dive in your in your background, because in order to do the study, they have to ask you questions about your your health history, your family's health history. And I think a lot of people are a little unsure if there's things that they want to tell people, because historically, studies haven't always ended up good for us. Yeah, and so it's something that we have to educate our community on and let them know that there is value in this study. Before the study can even get started. We need 10,000 African American women to get started, and we are not there yet. So right now, we're really just out there recruiting, telling everyone we know to join the study. Yes, want

Tanya Flanagan  10:22  
to add something. Tia touched on a little bit of what I wanted to make sure we share, and that's what's involved. But I would love if you would go even deeper, because, as you mentioned, when people hear the word study or survey, one, it's the time commitment. Two, it's the invasion of privacy as it's perceived. But what does this one really require? Can you talk about what a person could expect to happen if they said, Okay, I'll do this.

Latoschka Nether  10:51  
Yes. So yes, there is a little bit of a time commitment initially, and we say that it's between 45 minutes to an hour. I have had women say, I don't know if I have that much time. I don't. So my my discussions these days go down to more of a granular level when we're talking about this. If we are not taking the time, an hour out of our lives to focus on us, then how can we expect other people to do it? If we take time to sit at a salon and get our hair done, get our nails done, all of the things, then we can take some time to talk a little bit about something that will help us. And I implore women to think of it, you know, on a on a basic level like that. This is an opportunity to be seen as black women, and I applaud the organization, as Dr Mathis Coleman mentioned, for investing in this. But we need to have participation. We can't look around later and say, Well, you know, every time I go to the doctors, I you know, somebody finds something wrong. We can't say, you know, you people wind up getting diagnosed later because they're not willing to take the time to do it. We have to now focus on some things for us. So, I mean, some of the questions, they are going to be personal, but it's about you. It's about you, it's about your health. It's about the things that have maybe occurred in your family, so that there's an understanding so that better treatments, better processes, that can help women survive, particularly black women, survive a diagnosis that could come in their family and or for themselves.

Tanya Flanagan  12:42  
So when the person does the survey and you talked about the 45 minutes to maybe an hour, are we talking about where you go to a website and you fill out something and it takes you 45 minutes to an hour to go through the series of questions, are we talking about a conversation? Are we talking about a study group or a cohort. Can you talk a little bit more about how it's structured? And then I have an American Cancer Society related question following that.

Latoschka Nether  13:09  
So initially, you will go online, you register, you go through the understanding of what this study is. Once you complete the information, then you will have a researcher, likely it is a black female who will reach out to you to talk with you a little bit about your history. They will ask questions. Now, you should also know that the questions may be private in nature, or what we feel private in nature, because we're not, you know, we historically don't talk about, you know, family business outside of the house, but understand that most of your information is not shared with your name attached. Most you know the information is going to be anonymous in nature. It is a study, and you can do it in the privacy of your own home, the privacy of your car, as you're having the conversation with that researcher. So I

Tanya Flanagan  13:59  
wonder, and I think it's great American Cancer Society decided to focus on black women with with this study, and you pointed out how important that is. Are they doing studies like this similarly, similarly across other cultural communities, ethnic communities, or is this a study where they decided, you know, we're going to look at black women, and is that first? Yes, it is

Latoschka Nether  14:23  
that so, yes, yes. And yes. I mean, there are other studies that have cultural components to them. This one is the first one for us that is strictly focused on us so

Tanya Flanagan  14:39  
and the reason why I wanted to put that question on the table is because, when we look at the statistical data that follows, what's happening with black women as it relates to breast cancer and cancer diagnosis, while this is going to be a comprehensive overview of what happens to try to treat cancer, I suppose in numbers of type of breast cancer, can you talk. Statistically about how breast cancer affects black women versus other populations. Because I think it's important that we shine the spotlight on that. It's really important to understand the disparities.

Latoschka Nether  15:14  
So yes, cancer, cancer as a whole, the number is black women tend to die at a 40% higher rate than white women or other ethnic groups. We have a lower incidence of cancer. But now we have to understand what that correlation is. What does that mean? Does that does that mean we are being ignored when we go to the doctors, does that mean we are not taking our health care seriously? Does that mean we don't have access we don't know. These are the questions that will help us. I mean, does our family history say, you know, that's family business, that's private we Those are, those are the questions that we need answers to. Yeah.

Tya Mathis-Coleman  15:58  
I think one of the things that I learned is that historically, the black women are underrepresented when it comes to the research, and so the information that you provide to the American Cancer Society will contribute to research that can also improve the health of black women. So I think a lot of times when we do things, we want immediate results. But I know for me, one of the things I think of is I'm raising a black woman like she's seven now, and I want when she's my age, for her not to be afraid to get cancer. Right? When I was growing up in my 20s, every time I went to the doctor, I thought we were going to get cancer, and it was because of the fear that my mom had at that time that she kind of instilled in us, and so I think one of the things that we need to realize is what we're doing now with this study isn't necessarily going to impact any of us in this room, right, but the things and that they learn hopefully from the results of this study will impact the next generation of young people so that black women aren't dying from cancer as much as they are now.

Tanya Flanagan  17:06  
And that is absolutely true. And I say that's true because as a three time breast cancer survivor, which I've disclosed many times, and I travel the city, especially during October and other times of the year, talking about the importance of breast health, of overall health and wellness, and as I meet women who have been diagnosed, who are living longer with metastatic breast cancer, or who were able to get the necessary treatment to sort of live cancer free, if you will, as much as you were cancer free once you were ever diagnosed with breast cancer, right? Because you see women living longer, that means that the work in the medical community is actually helping women to live longer the time when it as you know, Tia, you mentioned when we first started talking on the show breast cancer, many years ago felt like decades ago felt like it was an automatic death sentence when you heard those words, you have breast cancer or you have cancer, it feels like an automatic death sentence, but we have made great strides in the area of research and treatment, and so people are living longer. But this study is an opportunity. The Black voices of women study is an opportunity to go a step further, and to go a targeted step further, which is something that's always been needed. I know my first diagnosis was 2003 the second 2007 and then again in 2008 and when I went through it in 2008 I was part of a study where they check they were there, basically comparing a medicine to say, I think it was Avastin at the time to see if it actually helped in the course of treatment. Now, I actually pulled the straw, for lack of a better description, and I got the placebo, which wasn't the actual drug, but I was willing to do it as a 30 something year old black woman to say, let me see if this research will help me, or even someone coming behind me as they work to figure out how to better treat women. And so these studies are really important, and especially to have one designed and centered to focus on African American women is huge.

Latoschka Nether  19:16  
I'll add too. I mean, when we talk about the time commitment, well, the initial one hour sounds daunting. This is an ongoing study, so once a year, once a year, you will have a follow up call that will take about 30 minutes just to ask, you know what? What has changed? What has happened? Lifestyle questions, things that may be different, but it's an it's an ongoing and we want to continue the information that you start with in the beginning to add beyond that. Do you know

Tanya Flanagan  19:49  
if they have the women journal at all? Because for a year to pass and to try and remember, you know what? I'm just what has happened to you? Because sometimes, you know, we get busy. We remember what happened last week. Did that happen last. Week was that yesterday? Oh, my God, I do that, right? I'm thinking, do the women journal to be able to pause and say, here's some true benchmarks that I can share with you, because you call me in September. Want to know what happened in February. I'm like, wait, what?

Tya Mathis-Coleman  20:19  
So I so I am a participant, and I they've never asked me to journal, but I think that's a really good idea. One of the things I would say, though, is it brought to light questions that I had never thought I needed to know, and it made me more responsible for my

Tanya Flanagan  20:39  
own healthcare. Can you share like so people get a sense and nothing that feels super personal, right? High level? What kinds of questions? Yeah, so are you being

Tya Mathis-Coleman  20:48  
asked to think? So? Just high level. So as a as a daughter of a breast cancer survival survivor, many of the questions were about her, right? And so for me, they were questions that I may knew general information, but I didn't know the specifics. So some of it was things I had to call and talk to my mom about, right, and then talk to my sister, because they would say, Well, do you have a Do you have another sibling? Has your sister ever experienced an irregular mammogram? Have you ever things like that and so and then after the study, after that one hour, as I went to my next annual, it was I had better questions for my doctor, so I would say that it's a way to kind of teach us almost how to advocate for ourself. Because there are things that I'm like, I don't know enough about my annual like, I just go, and if there's no problems, I just leave. But after doing the study, I knew like, questions that may come up at the at the check in, like you said, and so I was having better conversations, I think, with my health care provider. And so I think that's a benefit for women. I think a lot of times, as black women, we don't advocate for ourself. I know me, until I had my daughter, I would just kind of go and whatever the doctor said. I was like, Okay, thank you.

Tanya Flanagan  22:09  
And I want to say that I don't even know if that is a black woman thing, right? I think it is a it's a people thing, male or female, because you look at medical professionals, and they have gone to school and they have studied, and so this is now their expertise and area of understanding. And you're looking at this person going, someone says something is or isn't well with me, and I want you to fix it so that I can go back to my life. And I say that because it wasn't until my third diagnosis that I was like, pump the brakes, right? Let's dial all the way in. Because first, when I was young, and during my life, I'm working in the casino, and I just wanted to get back to my life. I was barely out of my 20s when it happened, and I just fixed this so I can go on. And then the third time, I was like, Okay, wait, what is everything? And when I say, everything, every treatment, every medication, every side effect, every potential benefit, every potential harm, how long? What will it change? How should I expect these changes to be I wanted to know and understand. And in doing that, it has allowed me to have really effective and helpful conversations with other women as I walk around in families and husbands of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer, sons who are just trying to understand how to help their wives, how to help their mother, how to help their sister, cousin, best friend, whomever it may be, the more you know, the better equipped You are to help others.

Tya Mathis-Coleman  23:41  
I agree,

Tanya Flanagan  23:42  
and I think that this study symbolizes an opportunity to find yourself in a space where the more you know, the better equipped you are to help yourself, to help your cousin, your sister, your friend. Thank God if you're one of the women who've never been diagnosed with any type of cancer between the age of 25 and 55 and luckily for you, Tia, that your mother is alive, that you could call and have the conversation. Because if I were in a position for except my niece is 41 she's never been diagnosed with any type of cancer, but she can't call my mother and ask her any questions, because my mother's gone. You know, she can't. And I'd had a niece who did some type of study where she had to understand family history and family dynamics, and so she called me with all these questions that I could only answer them to a point again, because my mother's gone, and was in that era where you don't talk about it much because you don't want to burden your children. You carry this you know, you bear your cross until the last day and breath that you can bear this cross in hopes of allowing them to live unburdened, not recognizing what may be left behind and the residual effect of that as we get into the last minutes, I want to make sure people know how to continue to stay connected with Dr Tia Mathis Coleman, whether it be as. A ambassador for the voices of black women study, or in your many other capacities that you wear your hats for. And then we'll also share your socials and anything you want to share for information on the American Cancer Society.

Tya Mathis-Coleman  25:12  
So you can always reach out to me via email at T Mathis 19 thirteen@gmail.com if you have any questions, especially about the study, we are always seeking ambassadors. So if you are between the ages and you would like to participate in the study, and then if you would like to go out and tell other people, we're always looking for ambassadors. And the other thing I would add is there's ambassadors everywhere. So we have like, monthly calls with ambassadors across the United States, and there are some states that are doing this very well. And I think Nevada, we have a little ways to go. We need to recruit black women here in Nevada. And so if you are a leader of an organization, and you'd like for us to come in and speak to the organization, or if you'd like to do a workshop where we come in and they actually start the study there at the workshop. That's something that we're willing to do, because we want our numbers in Nevada to increase. We are not at the lowest by any means, but we are growing very slowly. So I would just encourage people to contact me if you have questions, you can all also find me on all of the social medias, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and I'm happy to connect and answer any questions. Yeah.

Latoschka Nether  26:28  
And to get started, or if you are interested in getting information, you want to go to the voices.cancer.org, website. All of the information is there. You can share it. I also opened the door to folks who are not in the demo, but you may know someone who is knowledge is power, and this is all about that it's important.

Tanya Flanagan  26:53  
And I assume that if you have an organization and you want to call it organize something, and Tia just mentioned that, or you have a location that you can volunteer where a group of women could come together, or whomever might be able to be a strong advocate for outreach and awareness, to get people to participate, to get women, black women, who are aged 25 to 55 to participate in this study, who've never been diagnosed with cancer. It would be great to hear from you, we have a little bit more time in the show just to just talk about things in general. Not a lot we're getting down to our it's amazing how fast time flies. And I want to say thank you to the listening audience for tuning in to 91.5 jazz and more talking this morning with Dr Tia Mathis Coleman, who is an ambassador for the women, for the voices of black women study being done through the American Cancer Society to capture data on black women as it relates to cancer to improve cancer research and treatment. And also, I've had the pleasure of having latoshka Neither here from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in the Studio this morning. So it's been a pleasure to have you. I hope the audience has enjoyed, you know, hearing from you and had some time to think about and and that you're thinking about people that you may know, who you may know, who could benefit from the study. It's Women's History Month, it's March, and it shouldn't I know we put a huge focus on it now, but it's a conversation that we have every day, because women are diagnosed daily. So while we're having this conversation this month, women are diagnosed every day, and it's important that we stay vigilant and the fight against cancer and the fight against breast cancer to make sure we have survivors like your mom, survivors like me, and survivors like so many other women. So as our time ticks out, stay healthy. Stay safe, stay hydrated, because it's hot and I'll see you next week for another show right here on 91.5 I want to thank you for tuning into the scoop with me. Tonya Flanagan, and I want to invite you to get social with me. I'm on Facebook and Twitter. My name is my handle, T, a n, y, A F, l, a n, a G, A N. You can also find me on Instagram at Tonya almond eyes Flanagan, and if you have a thought, an opinion or a suggestion, don't hesitate to shoot me an email to tonya.flanagan@unlv.edu Thanks again for joining in. Stay safe and have a great week. You.

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