Key points from today’s guests:
Eric Moore, treated for lymphoma
- Eric had cheated death before and in 2022 was about to do it again. His stomach started swelling and a CT scan revealed Eric had lymphoma.
- He immediately started chemotherapy and eventually Eric thought he had it beat. But within a matter of weeks, the cancer was back and he was sent to the University of Kansas Cancer Center.
- He needed a stem cell transplant and Eric went into search mode for that one in a million donor match that would save his life.
- In a divine twist, he just received a Facebook message from his long-lost brother, Jesse.
- Two weeks later, Jesse was on a flight to Kansas City to be Eric’s stem cell donor.
- Eric still remains cancer-free and he said there were three main things that got him through this -- his faith, his doctors and his wife. And without any one of those three, his recovery wouldn't be possible
Ellen Klostermeyer, RN, post-transplant BMT coordinator, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- We put these patients through a lot -- they are challenged every day. They come and see us two to three times a week for 100 days.
- Being caregivers can be just as hard as being a patient. Eric’s wife Heather was an amazing one. She did such a great job asking questions and being there for Eric when he needed her.
- With many patients, we work with the caregivers very closely. They're an extension of the healthcare team, essentially, as patients go through the transplant.
- After a transplant, we keep close tabs on them.
- I've never had a more rewarding position in my career. I get to work with such wonderful patients and see such positive experiences with transplants. It's a tough road, so I’m glad I get to be a piece of that.
Shelleen King, RN, pre-transplant BMT coordinator, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- It's truly amazing. It really kind of brings full circle to the work that we do seeing them when they're at their worst, helping them secure their caregiving team, their medical evaluation, going through all the hoops just to get to transplant and seeing them feeling so poorly. And then to see Eric a year later. It's amazing. It's very rewarding.
- We really have to get the caregivers aligned and engaged. We expect a lot from them. We put them through several hours of education along with the patient to really get them going.
- It's a collaborative team effort. We have our psychologists and our social workers, all of us working with them.
- This journey is tough, and like Eric has done, I just encourage patients to embrace the blessings along the way and to have that positive outlook.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- The COVID inpatient count has jumped to 33 this week, an increase from 19 last week.
- Any time a new variant comes out, what we have seen with the exception of Delta, is increased transmissibility and immune evasion, but not necessarily more severe symptoms.
- Remember, we have two main arms of our immune system -- one is antibodies and the other is T cells. We still have very good T cell immunity to help protect against severe disease, and it hospitalization as well.
- In looking at the CDC reports, there does not appear to be any increased risk of severe disease or any difference in the disease.
- So we would still advise you to number one, get your updated booster if you haven't, or your updated vaccine if you haven't yet this season. And number two, always have a plan, get tested early, talk with your medical team, get on that oral antiviral, if you can.
- All of those things are going to help reduce your risk of hospitalization and severe disease.
Monday, December 18 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. One man was too sick to keep his job. So why wasn't he sick enough to get a liver from the national transplant list? Learn more about the complicated rules that forced him to fly 1,000 miles to help save his life.
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