Continue Health Treatments During COVID-19
- Too many people are ignoring health concerns and putting off important screenings because of COVID-19 fears.
- Doctors say waiting to seek medical treatment can have devastating effects.
- Hospitals and other medical facilities are taking ample measures to make treatment safe during COVID-19.
This pandemic has rocked our world in unfathomable ways, forcing people to put off travel, weddings and countless other activities and events. What no one should postpone, however, is health care, yet far too many people, like Wendt, are doing just that.
Read MoreCancer Concerns: A Cautionary Tale
Wendt, who shared details of her story with the Anchorage Daily News, said it was in Februaryjust over a year after she had surgery to remove a Stage 2 melanomawhen she felt a "twinge" under her arm. She was concerned about it and subsequent swelling, but didn’t want to argue with the receptionist at oncologist's office when she called in March. When she finally saw her doctor in May, they found a mass the size of a crabapple under her arm and learned that the cancer had spread.Since June, Wendt told the paper she has had brain surgery to remove a tumor and underwent two rounds of Gamma Knife radiation. She also started Keytruda, an immunotherapy that helps the immune system destroy cancer. It can be used to treat advanced melanoma that can't be removed by surgery and/or to help prevent melanoma from returning after it and/or lymph nodes have been removed by surgery. Former President Jimmy Carter underwent the same type of treatment for melanoma in 2015 and saw incredible results, and it appears to be working well in Wendt's case too.
Related: How is Former President Jimmy Carter A Melanoma Survivor Coping During COVID-19?
As effective as it can be, however, Dr. Anna Pavlick, Professor of Medicine and Dermatology at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet that Keytruda isn't right for everyone. She said, in some cases, it can cause adverse effects, and each case must be evaluated independently.
How Wendt's case would have been different had she insisted a doctor and received earlier treatment is unknown, but it's a fact that the earlier the treatment starts, the better the outcome.
Wendt is optimistic about her future, but she told the paper she wants others to learn from her experience and to not let COVID-19 or anything else get in the way of their medical care. "I would say, march right in and be seen," she said. "Don't put anything off."
Don’t Skip Screenings
Even if you don't have any worrisome symptoms, it's important to still schedule medical screenings, such as skin checks, mammograms and colonoscopies, as recommended. Doctors say no one should avoid such screenings over COVID-19 fears.
"It's actually a very safe time for many hospitals because we have policies in place to screen patients and visitors prior to them coming in," Dr. Heidi Gray, a gynecologic oncologist at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, tells SurviorNet. "So it's really important, now that we've been living with COVID and we've adjusted our lives to COVID masking, social distancing, all of those things that now we can't forget about the rest of our medical care. We really do need to make sure patients if they're having symptoms, if they're having a medical concern, that they should be coming in."
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