Jim Tamkin - The Myeloma Survival Guide: Essential Advice for Patients and Their Loved Ones

i Praise for The Myeloma Survival Guide

Dr. Jim Tamkin has turned his own illness into a benefit for patients with myeloma worldwide. Together with Dave Visel, they have developed a literal GPS system, an invaluable guide to patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. Not only have they provided clear information on the disease and its treatment, but most importantly also conveyed critical guidance on how to deal with the very personal life-impacting effects of this disease for patients and family members alike. In this era of great excitement in myeloma where novel therapies are changing the treatment paradigm and improving patient outcome, this book assures awareness and access to patients and caregivers of these advances, so that patients can enjoy longer and higher quality lives with their loved ones. There simply is no greater gift than this.

Kenneth C. Anderson, MD

Kraft Family Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Chief, Division of Hematologic Neoplasia

Director, Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center and

LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Boston, Massachusetts

The Myeloma Survival Guide is filled with facts, factoids, tidbits, and anecdotal descriptions that would help anyone starting on their myeloma adventure. We have come a long way since the advent of transplants with the discovery of new novel agents and combination therapies. There is much to learn and much to do. I was pleased that Dr. Tamkin takes into account the vast differences in approach to the disease, its treatment, and whether or not cure is real. I would definitely recommend the book to my patients and their caregivers.

Bart Barlogie, MD, PhD

Director of Myeloma Research,

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Founder, Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy

Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Institute

University of Arkansas

ii Its tremendous for new patients to have this book. A myeloma diagnosis is overwhelming. Even as a physician, I did almost nothing but read for a month after my myeloma was confirmed. One of this books greatest values is that it covers everything in one place.

Burton Dickey, MD

Myeloma Patient

Professor and Chair, Department of Pulmonary Medicine

MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas

This is the ultimate guide for all patients and caregivers as they navigate through the rapidly changing landscape of the myeloma diagnosis and treatment process. The authors have poignantly written The Myeloma Survival Guide from the unique perspectives of the patient and caregiver. The intimate knowledge of living with cancer allowed the authors to highlight common health and psychosocial concerns as patients are living longer than ever.

Beth Faiman, PhD, MSN, APN-BC

Multiple Myeloma Nurse Practitioner

Taussig Cancer Institute

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio

This is a wonderful primer for myeloma patients and their caregivers. It provides up-to-date knowledge while at the same time providing practical pointers for patients and caregivers to deal with this horrible disease. Since knowledge is power, this book will provide essential tools to allow patients and caregivers weather the myeloma storm more prepared. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Sergio A. Giralt, MD

Chief, Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

New York, New York

As a patient, I understand how difficult it is for patients and their families to manage the uncertainties of a multiple myeloma diagnosis. Dave Visel and Dr. Jim Tamkin have collaborated to develop a detailed resource for approaching this situation, which will undoubtedly help newly diagnosed myeloma patients and their caregivers attain the information that they need to empower themselves throughout their journey with myeloma.

Kathy Giusti

Founder and CEO

Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

iii This book is very good! It is direct and comprehensive and features just about anything and everything new myeloma patients, caregivers, and family members need to know.

Pat Killingsworth

Multiple Myeloma Patient

Medical Journalist and Freelance Medical Writer

I will hand this book to new myeloma patients, knowing that it will give them tools and a confidence that they would not have gotten without it. The teaching is clear, complete, accurate, easy to follow, memorable, and occasionally very funny. It produces better prepared patients for their oncologists to treat. When I learned that I had myeloma in 2007, I looked for this book. It was not there. Even though I had access to the medical faculty of a great university, my pathway to survival followed a much tougher road than you will be shown here. If you are a myeloma patient, or a caregiver, the key to the future is in your hands. Dont put it down.

John W. Killip, DDS

Myeloma Patient

Clinical Professor Emeritus

University of Missouri School of Dentistry

Kansas City, Missouri

We have needed this authoritative, comprehensive, encouraging reinforcement for myeloma patients for at least 15 years. A copy should be placed in the hands of every new myeloma patient at the time of diagnosis.

Robert A. Kyle, MD

Professor of Medicine, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center

Rochester, Minnesota

In a word, its fabulous! I can find nothing lacking in style or substance in this treatise on myeloma. I have been studying the literature on myeloma since my diagnosis in 2006. I have interviewed eight different doctors (five oncologists) relative to my treatment. Almost all of what Ive discovered is in the first 90 pages and Ive still got some reading to do! Ive received written what to expect documents from both the City of Hope and the Veterans Administrationneither of which is this complete, enlightening, or well written. The authors have produced a well-documented... [and] wonderful tool for oncologists treating myeloma and their patients, caregivers, and other interested parties.

Duke Rohlffs

Myeloma Patient

Mesquite, Nevada iv

v The Myeloma Survival Guide

vi Also by Dave Visel

Living with Cancer: A Practical Guide

Also by Jim Tamkin

Manual of Ambulatory Medicine

(with Alan S. Robbins, MD)

vii The Myeloma Survival Guide

Essential Advice for Patients
and Their Loved Ones

Second Edition

JIM TAMKIN, MD, and DAVE VISEL

viii Visit our website at www.demoshealth.com

ISBN: 9780826127051

ebook ISBN: 9780826128232

Acquisitions Editor: Beth Barry

Compositor: diacriTech

2018 by James A. Tamkin and David P. Visel.

Demos Health is an imprint of Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

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Medical information provided by Demos Health, in the absence of a visit with a health care professional, must be considered as an educational service only. This book is not designed to replace a physicians independent judgment about the appropriateness or risks of a procedure or therapy for a given patient. Our purpose is to provide you with information that will help you make your own health care decisions.