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Doug Martin
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| Joined: | Thu Oct 25th, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 13 |
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Posted: Fri Oct 26th, 2007 11:58 pm |
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My name is Doug Martin. I was diagnosed 1 year ago with multiple myeloma. I was treated by Dr. Guido Tricot at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Myeloma Institute. Because Dr. Tricot transferred to the University of Utah - Huntsman Cancer Institute I wanted to stay with him and he has agreed to continue treating me.
I am very appreciative of all those who have had a role in creating the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I know it was brought about because of a generous family, and for their generosity, I am most appreciative.
I'm 54 years old, have had very good fortune with my treatment, and am currently in complete remission. I am on a maintenance program under Dr. Tricot, and I enjoy my work and family.
To everyone out there who reads this - whether you have mm or not, whether you are a family member, friend, etc., - keep the faith. I'm convinced that many good things are happening not only now - but will continue to develop in the future. Find someone out there who needs your help, and do your best to help them.
To individuals who are considering treatment at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, as a lay person, I can give you my highest recommendation. Dr. Guido Tricot is highly knowledgeable, and I believe will create some of the highest standards for a myeloma clinic in the world.
I like to think of Franklin Roosevelt's words, at the beginning of World War II - because those words are applicable to how we should approach mm: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
If anyone has any questions for me regarding my treatment in Arkansas and my transfer to Utah, I would be glad to entertain them.
Doug Martin, Kansas
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QueenBee
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| Joined: | Fri Jan 9th, 2009 |
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Posted: Fri Jan 9th, 2009 11:02 pm |
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Hi. My husband was diagnosed with mm on October 17, 2008. Because his mm presented with acute kidney failure our gen. practioner connected us with a local oncologist who quickly acted on his mm with velcade and dex. This gave us time to visit MIRT and have testing done. Our experience was less than great with lots of waiting, scheduling issues and staff that just didn't seem to really care about the patient. We are trying to set up a testing appointment with Huntsman but have not heard from them in a week. Is this normal?
My main question to you would be, how does Huntsman compare to MIRT? We will be under Dr. Barlogie who impressed us. We are seeking the best care on all levels...facility, patient care, doctors. We feel that fighting the battle with mm will be more successful with a great team behind us. Can you advise based on your experiece with the different facilities? I understand Tricot worked with Barlogie. I also understand that Tricot's treatment therapy is a little gentler. Any thoughts?
Thanks so much for any info. you may share.
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Annick
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| Joined: | Sat Oct 20th, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 43 |
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Posted: Fri Jan 9th, 2009 11:37 pm |
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Dear Queen Bee,
I'm so sorry to hear that no one here at Huntsman has gotten back to you yet. Our policy is to get in contact with each patient within two days of receipt of telephone or e-mail message, but we aim to get in touch more quickly than that. So, this definitely should not have happened.
You may e-mail me at annick.tricot@hci.utah.edu or call me at 801-587-4482, and I will ensure that you are scheduled for a testing and a consult asap.
As far as our treatment approach is concerned, we do tandem transplantation, as does MIRT, and we are the only two centers in the United States that take this approach to treating myeloma. It is true that our treatment schema is gentler as compared to Total Therapy III, because we've reduced the number of chemotherapy cycles that are administered pre and post-transplantation. The aim of our clinical trial is to establish the same or better efficacy than Total Therapy II and III while hopefully reducing the side effects/complications seen with those clinical trials.
Although I'm obviously biased because I work at Huntsman, I do think that our patients have a very positive experience here, and that you will find caring, conscientious staff and short or no wait times for appointments. In one of our staff meetings, we were complimented on achieving a >90% rate of getting patients into the clinic rooms on time.
I hope that you will contact me with any further questions you may have, and as stated, I will do my very best to get your husband's schedule together asap. Again, I'd like to apologize on behalf of the program for not getting back to you sooner.
Take care, and have a wonderful weekend. Annick
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Doug Martin
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| Joined: | Thu Oct 25th, 2007 |
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Posted: Sat Jan 10th, 2009 12:16 am |
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| I think that you can get good treatment at both places. I was treated at both places, but I transferred to Huntsman because I have a great deal of faith in Dr. Guido Tricot. I have found the staff at Huntsman to be very good in working with me via email - to stay on top of issues. That has been a tremendous plus for me because I live in Kansas and I still work a regular job (have been for 2 years now). I see you have posted something on this website - so apparently you are familiar with and comfortable with using the web. I live in Kansas - and I have been fortunate to be able to stay in touch between appointments - with the staff at the Huntsman. I have found my friends at the Huntsman to be more responsive to email than when I was in Arkansas. I think the treatment at Huntsman is very "personalized" - at least that goes for me. I have good things to say about both places - but have transferred to Huntsman because of Dr. Tricot. I know that when there were difficult decisions regarding patients at Little Rock - that a number of doctors would often be involved to staff the issues. So - if you get any doctor at the Huntsman - I think there is a reasonable possibility that Dr. Tricot's knowledge would be available as a resource to make the big decisions - and that counts for quite a bit. Good luck. And may God Bless you.
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