Seeing a Specialist and Getting Multiple Opinions is Important for Newly-Diagnosed Patients with Myeloma

When patients first receive a myeloma diagnosis, it’s important that they see a myeloma specialist and seek out more than one opinion, says Jenny Ahlstrom, of the HealthTree Foundation & Myeloma Crowd, who is a myeloma survivor.

In an interview with CURE®, Ahlstrom described her experience finding a doctor after her diagnosis and how imperative it is for every decision to be thought through from the start of a cancer journey.

“What I didn't know is that the first treatment is the most important treatment, and the most long-lasting remission,” Ahlstrom said. “So, whatever you do, I feel like we're playing chess games with our lives. And that first move is really, really critical.”

Transcription:

My brother-in-law had died of AML. And we kind of had similar diagnosis situations, we went to a general oncologist, a really great oncologist. But not knowing how to treat that particular type of cancer – it’s so critical that you do have a specialist that knows how to treat that kind of cancer. So, I would do the same thing that I did before. And I really lucked out and found one in my own city. I think had I had to not to travel or something I wouldn't have known, I would have kind of been just content to go see this doctor.

And what I didn't know is that the first treatment is the most important treatment and the most long-lasting remission. So, whatever you do, I feel like we're playing chess games with our lives. And that first move is really, really critical. So just making sure you're making the right first move. You should see a myeloma specialist and even get a couple of opinions.

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