Key points from today’s guests:
Stephanie Jones, multiple myeloma patient
- Stephanie was a marathon runner who ran to raise money for cancer.
- In 2021, she was diagnosed with cancer herself – multiple myeloma – and would ultimately need a stem cell transplant.
- An important part of her treatment is dealing with the mental aspects of cancer.
- She credits Dr. Muenks with helping her polish her “sparkle” to look at life in different ways and stay positive.
- She recommends people never be ashamed of asking for help – because we all need it at some point.
Elizabeth Muenks, PhD, onco-psychologist, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- When patients get diagnosed with this, the psychological toll of that is unique to multiple myeloma.
- Not every cancer center has access to psychologists that are trained to meet the needs of cancer patients.
- The fact that we're an NCI comprehensive designated cancer center, one of the requirements is that we have experts on board to meet those needs.
- We have a team that has specialty in bone marrow transplants (BMT) and hematological malignancies, which is a bit unique.
- We try to have a deep understanding of each cancer and how it's unique so that we can help patients psychologically navigate their individual processes and journeys.
- The caregiver aspect is also important as we work with them to help patients during their recovery.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, director of infection prevention & control, The University of Kansas Health System
- COVID numbers are at 14 active cases in the hospital this week.
- If you have been exposed, the CDC recommendation is to mask for 10 days and get tested after five days.
- You don't need to test immediately because it will take some time to develop some sort of viral load that you can actually test for and be able to identify.
- And then if it's negative, keep masking for 10 days.
- If it's positive, obviously you have to isolate.
Monday, September 11 at 8 a.m. CT is the next Morning Medical Update. Imagine- diagnosing your own cancer. That's how a young ultrasound tech discovered she had ovarian cancer. She shares her story, and the signs you need look out for.
ATTENTION MEDIA: Please note access is with Microsoft Teams:
Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 235 659 792 451
Passcode: 6CSfGE
Download Teams | Join on the web
Or call in (audio only)
+1 913-318-8863,566341546# United States, Kansas City
TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI
Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital
YouTube.com/kuhospital
Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.