Tag Archive for: health

Dr. Cynthia Thomson: Why Is It Important for You to Empower Patients?

 

Why is it important to empower patients? Expert Dr. Cynthia Thomson from the University of Arizona discusses her approach to patient empowerment, how patient goals can vary, and her perspective on supporting patient lifestyle changes. 

 

 

Related Resources:

Dr. Akriti Jain: Why Is It Important for You to Empower Patients?Dr. Akriti Jain: Why Is It Important for You to Empower Patients? Dr. Brad Kahl: Why Is It Important for You to Empower Patients?

Dr. Brad Kahl: Why Is It Important for You to Empower Patients?

Kimberly Smith: Why Is It Important for You to Empower Patients?

Kimberly Smith: Why Is It Important for You to Empower Patients?


Transcript:

Dr. Cynthia Thomson:

Cancer patients are amazing individuals. They really are committed to their health and well-being, and they’re also committed to the health and well-being of so many around them. So I empower patients by really helping them to think internally about what it is they want to accomplish in terms of lifestyle, what it is that really is important to them. Is it getting down on the floor and playing with their grandchild? Is it being able to have regular bowel movements every day? Is it to handle all these symptoms, maybe long-term fatigue or whatever, and really try to meet them where they are so that they really can achieve the goals that are important to them, not what’s important to me.

And I think that as I’ve worked with patients over decades, what I realize is that when you start where they are and support the patient along the way, they will make positive change. A lot of people will say, oh, no one will change their diet.

People aren’t ever going to eat healthy. Why do you worry about that? And I say, well you know, if that were the case, I think I would have quit doing this a long time ago. I would have realized that. But the opposite is true. People are looking for support, for information, for that opportunity to empower themselves to be healthier. They want to be healthier. It’s just that sometimes they need some help along the way to figure out what it is they need to achieve that goal.

Undergoing CAR T-Cell Therapy? Why Managing Overall Health Is Essential

Planning to undergo CAR T-cell therapy? Nurse practitioner Donna Catamero explains the importance of maintaining overall health before CAR T-cell therapy, staying organized during treatment, and how healthcare teams are improving the management and anticipation of side effects.

Donna Catamero is a Nurse Practitioner and associate director of the Multiple Myeloma Clinical Research Program at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Learn more about Donna Catamero.

See More From Thrive CAR T-Cell Therapy

Related Resources:

CAR T-Cell Therapy | Key Considerations for Myeloma Patients

CAR T-Cell Therapy | Key Considerations for Myeloma Patients

Planning for CAR T-Cell Therapy | Advice for Myeloma Patients

Planning for CAR T-Cell Therapy | Advice for Myeloma Patients 

CAR T-Cell Therapy Support | Questions to Ask About the Process

CAR T-Cell Therapy Support | Questions to Ask About the Process

Transcript:

Katherine Banwell:

Wow, that’s great. Why is it so important for those undergoing CAR T-cell therapy to manage their overall health? 

Donna Catamero:

So, the healthier you go into a treatment, the better you’re going to feel, and this includes your activity level, so, really maintaining activity, getting out there, walking, exercising, eating things in moderation, having a healthier diet, and I just think the better you feel going into therapy, the better you’re going to tolerate therapies. 

Katherine Banwell:

Okay. Managing life before and after CAR T-cell therapy can be a really big undertaking. What tips do you have for staying organized at home, especially related to medication and follow-up appointments?  

Donna Catamero:

So, CAR T therapy can be very intense up front. There’s a lot of appointments, a lot of things you need to do to prepare yourself to get ready to collect your T cells and to receive your T cells, and it’s a lot of appointments, a lot of scheduling, and treatments to gear up for that cell infusion. So, what we do for our patients is getting calendars for patients, diaries for patients, to really keep them organized. It is a lot up front, but then, after a patient receives their T cells, they are then more on a maintenance phase, and life will get easier. It’s just heavy up front.  

Katherine Banwell:

Would you say that healthcare teams are getting better at managing and anticipating CAR T side effects? 

Donna Catamero:

Absolutely. So, we have several years of experience now. We can anticipate the timing of certain side effects, we manage them very well, many institutions are now doing CAR T therapies as an outpatient, so we really have gotten a great handle on how to manage these side effects, when to anticipate these side effects. And then, even long-term monitoring and managing patients several months post the CAR T infusion, infection prevention, etc., we have done quite well and been successful with our patient outcomes.   

Questions and Considerations When Making Myeloma Treatment Decisions

Questions and Considerations When Making Myeloma Treatment Decisions from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What should be considered when making a myeloma treatment decision? Expert Dr. Jeffrey Matous discusses key factors involved in choosing therapy and provides a list of questions to ask your doctor to guide optimal care.

Dr. Jeffrey Matous is a myeloma specialist at the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute and the assistant chair in myeloma research for Sarah Cannon Research Institute. Learn more about Dr. Matous.

See More from Evolve Myeloma

Related Resources:

Considering CAR T-Cell Therapy for Myeloma_ Key Questions to Ask Your Doctor

Myeloma Treatment: Who Is Stem Cell Transplant Appropriate For

Myeloma Combination Therapy _ What Patients Should Know

Transcript:

Katherine:

What factors impact treatment decisions? 

Dr. Jeffrey Matous:

Well, there are so many. One of the key ones is fitness, and fitness is a term that myeloma doctors use and rely on tremendously. 

And fitness, more or less, falls into a couple different categories. It’s more complex than that, obviously, but generally speaking, it’s too old or too frail, or young and vigorous and I stress to my patients that vigorous or frail is not determined by chronological age. It’s determined by your physiologic age. That’s really critical, so determining what your patient’s overall fitness is, is really important in myeloma. And then, we have to assess the risk of myeloma. I think we’ll talk about this a little bit later, because not all myeloma is the same and we treat myelomas differently depending on risk, certainly. And then, patient preference is a huge part, because there are so many ways to treat myeloma these days that we explore options with the patients and sometimes patients have pretty strong opinions about, you know, one type of treatment or the other, for example.  

Katherine:

What testing should take place following a myeloma diagnosis?  

Dr. Jeffrey Matous:

Testing in myeloma is multifaceted, because myeloma can affect patients in so many different ways. For example, it involves radiology studies to look for bone disease, urine work to see if the kidneys are affected by myeloma, a lot of blood work, and then, we also do a lot of testing to make sure that we understand the whole health of the patient, because that comes into play so much when we’re making treatment decisions in myeloma.  

Katherine:

What advice do you have for patients and caregivers related to working with their healthcare team in choosing a therapy? 

Dr. Jeffrey Matous:

Yeah. I think the big thing is to do some research on your own, but really, ask questions when you see your physician. I mean, ask questions about, for example, what are my treatment options? Are there clinical trials that might be available to me? What’s on the cutting edge in myeloma? What are the standard therapies? What are the pros and cons? And a question I often counsel patients to ask when they’re seeking other opinions is if you had 100 people like me and you treated them this way, how many would do well and how many would not do so well, and prognosis, and so forth. And then, the other thing I think is really important sometimes is gauging how experienced your physician is in treating myeloma, because we actually have data that shows that patients who are treated in myeloma centers actually fair a little better than those who are not. 

Involving a myeloma expert in your care doesn’t necessarily mean you have to get your care at that center. It just means you may want a myeloma expert on your team. Pretty much every doctor I know welcomes a myeloma person on their team, because the field is so rapidly evolving. It’s really hard to keep up with for a lot of people. 

A Word From the Registered Dietician & Nutritionist

How Much Protein Do I Need?

Each person’s nutrient needs are a little different, and you actually have some leeway with how much of each to have. However, when it comes to macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat), it’s not the same rule. We want to get enough, without too much. There are varying suggestions on what the correct ratio is for macronutrient intake, but they typically fall within the following range:

  • 45-65% of calories from carbs
  • 20-35% of calories from fat (I’ve seen some studies show Mediterranean diets that have up to 40%)
  • 10-35% of calories from protein

NOTE that these are not percentages of food on the plate, they are percentages of CALORIES from each food group. What makes this extra confusing is that carbs and protein are 4 calories per gram where fat is 9 calories per gram. Fat is very calorie dense, which is why you aim to eat less of it by volume, than the other sources of calories. Less is more!

Also, FYI – alcohol is 7 calories per gram. That’s still more calories per gram than carbs and protein. It can add up fast, hence the ‘beer belly’ that some people can accumulate even when it seems that they don’t “eat” that much.

Given this information, what is the optimal amount of protein that you should aim for? Consuming more protein than your body needs is not helpful. The average American eats twice as much protein as they need (they fill 1/2 their plate with meat!)

Protein Sources & Amounts

Health Exercises to Tap Into Your Resiliency

The current pandemic the world is facing has caused a whirlwind of emotions, especially for immunocompromised patients, including cancer patients. Every feeling, from grief to sadness, and anger to hopelessness, has been magnified as our minds take a toll and our level of vulnerability has grown.

Right now, we are doing the best we can with the knowledge, experiences, and tools that we have. A couple of ways to utilize these tools and stay grounded during this time include meditation and exercise. Below are a list of resources, including ones I have personally used, that can be utilized to build inner and outer strength.

Walking

A great form of exercise that can be done anywhere and doesn’t require any equipment. During your walks, take in the scenery around you. Challenge yourself by quickening your pace, going up and down hills, or see how far you can go in a specific amount of time.

Yoga

Another activity that requires little to no equipment. Find free videos on YouTube or look to see if a local studio is offering online classes. Yoga allows your mind to calm and your stress hormone levels to reduce as you focus on slower movements and breath work.

Aerobics or high-intensity interval training (HIIT)

Helps improve cardiovascular health and endurance through quick movements done in rounds and can utilize the entire body. YouTube and Instagram are great places to look for these types of exercises. You can also incorporate weights (if you have them) to make it more challenging.

Strength training or weight lifting

Beneficial for both men and women, and burns more calories over time. You don’t have to be buff to lift weights or even have equipment. Buckets filled with heavy items or other things with handles, soup cans, bags of flour, a dish towel, or even body weight can be used to break a sweat. Again, YouTube and Instagram are your places for videos. Pinterest can also be helpful by searching for “body weight exercises,” or “exercises with no equipment.”

  • Mastering the form of each exercise is crucial to avoid injuries. Form > the amount of weight you can lift.
  • Do each exercise slowly. Form a mind-muscle connection.
  • Don’t forget to breathe!
  • Stretch!
  • Favorite exercises:
    • Bicep curls
    • Tricep dips
    • Bent over rows (back)
    • Rear delt flys (deltoids)
    • Upright rows (shoulders/trapezoids)
    • Squats
    • Deadlifts: Romanian, sumo, one-leg, stiff-leg (hamstrings)
    • Calf raises
    • Military press (shoulders)
    • Chest press

Meditation

Meditation is a wonderful practice that can be used to mitigate negative thoughts and distractions. This is important any time, not just during quarantine! One of the best things about meditation: you don’t have to be perfect! Meditation takes dedication and practice. YouTube has free, guided meditations that can be done in any quiet space. Some have someone spreading, while others are simply music. Apps, such as Headspace and Calm, also offer guided meditations.