‘The Office’s’ Angela Kinsey Brought to Tears Over Mindy Kaling’s Emotional Pancreatic Cancer Message: ‘Ange & I Unfortunately Are In the Cancer Club’
Angela Kinsey, 49, has a lot more in common with former co-star Mindy Kaling, 41, than just starring in The Office. The TV star was recently brought to tears after hearing Kaling tell her story of losing her mother to pancreatic cancer, which is an experience Kinsey knows all too well.
In a series of Instagram stories, Kinsey gave an emotional shoutout of love and support to her good friend Kaling after watching her touching video with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN). Kaling teamed up with the organization to spread awareness about pancreatic cancer since losing her mother to the disease in 2012. Kinsey knows first-hand how much pancreatic cancer can affect a family. She lost her father, Billy, to the disease in 2014. Kaling’s video clearly tugged at Kinsey’s heartstrings, because by the end of the video she was fighting back tears.
Related: Actress Mindy Kaling Lost Mom to Pancreatic Cancer & Wants to Help Others Impacted By the Disease: ‘One of the Toughest Moments of My Life’
“I wanted to just take a second, because I feel like I’m really behind with keeping up with things, but I just wanted to send my friend Mindy my love; I just adore her,” Kinsey says. “You know Mindy’s mom and my dad both passed away from pancreatic cancer. Mindy I just love how you have become just a voice for pancreatic cancer and finding a cure. I just love how you made that video, Mindy, I just saw it. Anyway, I love you and that’s it.”
Kinsey’s emotional reaction caught the attention of Kaling herself, who reposted Kinsey message to her own Instagram. In a series of stories, Kaling thanked Kinsey for the kind message and acknowledged how those impacted by this disease can feel very alone. As two people who have lost loved ones to pancreatic cancer, they are speaking out and pushing for better outcomes for those facing this difficult cancer.
“Ange and I unfortunately are in the Cancer Club,” Kaling writes. “So we both know what it’s like to have loved ones who’ve had pancreatic cancer.”
It’s unclear what stage Kinsey’s father’s disease was in, but Kaling’s mother fought stage 4 pancreatic cancer before her passing. A late stage diagnosis is unfortunately far too common. In fact, 80% of pancreatic cancer cases are diagnosed by the time it has advanced. This is often because symptoms such as jaundice, abdominal pain, and unexplained weight don’t present themselves until the disease has already spread throughout the body.
There’s another challenge in detecting pancreatic cancer insufficient screening. Due to the pancreas being located deep inside the body, it can be difficult for the cancer to be detected through screening.
Related: When Heartthrob Patrick Swayze Showed Signs of Pancreatic Cancer He Tried to Delay Doctor Visit; His Wife Wouldn’t Let Him
“Because the pancreas is inside the abdomen, it often doesn’t have symptoms that would tell you that something is wrong with your pancreas,” Dr. Anirban Maitra, co-leader of the Pancreatic Cancer Moon Shot at MD Anderson Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. “By the time individuals walk into the clinic with symptoms like jaundice, weight loss, back pain, or diabetes, it’s often very late in the stage of the disease. Each year in the United States, about 53,000 patients get pancreatic cancer, and unfortunately, most will die from this disease within a few months to a year or so from the diagnosis.”
