Recently Diagnosed or Relapsed? Stop Looking For a Miracle Cure, and Use Evidence-Based Therapies To Enhance Your Treatment and Prolong Your Remission
Multiple Myeloma an incurable disease, but I have spent the last 25 years in remission using a blend of conventional oncology and evidence-based nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle therapies from peer-reviewed studies that your oncologist probably hasn't told you about.
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Benefits of Myeloma Telehealth?
What are the benefits of myeloma telehealth? Accounts of a long-term MM survivor followed by an explanation from an oncologist will give you a good idea of the possible benefits.
I was diagnosed 2 months before the pandemic arrived. Once the pandemic arrived, I switched to telemed care, since I was on oral therapy. I also switched my IVIG to at-home (paid by Medicare and– thanks to the warm climate in SoCal — I had on my patio, and the IVIG nurse also drew my regular labs.
So for several years, I didn’t go into the oncology clinic except on rare occasions. Aside from eliminating covid risk, I felt that the disadvantage of not being in the same room with the doctor was balanced by being able to see each other’s faces, unmasked.
Eventually — around the time that covid vaccines became available — I had to switch to daratumumab subQ, so I had to go in once a month. When that stopped working, after several aborted tries with other oral meds, I contacted City of Hope (a cancer hospital 2 hours from my home) and made a telehealth appt with a myeloma specialist there.
I’ve since spent a lot of time there (for a CAR-T, and lately for harvesting stem cells), but our regular monthly follow-up appts are still telehealth. I REALLY like telehealth appts — they save me anxiety (about covid), as well as time. I even still use telehealth most of the time for appts with my local internist!
What Are the Benefits of Telemedicine for Myeloma Patients
I am both a MM survivor and MM cancer coach. I consider two of the most important benefits for myeloma telehealth to be a second opinion from a MM specialist in addition to seeing a MM specialist for an individual therapy plan.
The newly diagnosed myeloma patient may want to go to their local oncologist for therapy and/or testing but a second opinion from a MM specialist as well as discussing the larger issues of their individual therapy plan are too important for a general oncologist.
Email me at David.PeopleBeatingCancer@gmail.com with questions about managing your MM with conventional or non-conventional therapies.
Good luck,
David Emerson
- MM Survivor
- MM Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Telehealth can be used in many ways to support cancer care, including:
- Check-ups and follow-up care: Patients can receive check-ups and follow-up care from home.
- Medication management: Patients can manage and renew their cancer medication.
- Treatment planning: Patients can discuss surgery plans and treatment requirements with a health care provider.
- Side effect assessment: Patients can assess potential side effects of chemotherapy before each treatment cycle.
- Progress review: Patients can have their progress reviewed and dosing adjustments determined.
- Screenings: Patients can undergo certain routine cancer screenings.
- Genetic counseling: Patients can receive genetic counseling.
- Consultations: Patients can consult with specialists or receive second opinions for diagnoses.
- Lifestyle services: Patients can receive lifestyle and wellness services, such as nutritional and exercise recommendations.
- Psychosocial care: Patients can receive psychosocial care.
- Palliative care: Patients can receive palliative care.
How can I use telehealth for cancer care?
Telehealth can help people with cancer get some of the care they need.