How Can Mind-Body Medicine Help Myeloma Patients With Side Effect Management?
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Published on October 18, 2018
How can a mindfulness practice help patients live well with multiple myeloma? Patient Power host and advocate Cindy Chmielewski is joined by myeloma patient Jill Zitzewitz to discuss the benefits of mind-body medicine and share simple, at-home mindfulness techniques to help others cope with side effects, pain and anxiety. Watch now to learn more.
Produced by Patient Power. We thank Celgene Corporation, Genentech, Helsinn and Novartis for their support.
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Transcript | How Can Mind-Body Medicine Help Myeloma Patients With Side Effect Management?
Please remember the opinions expressed on Patient Power are not necessarily the views of our sponsors, contributors, partners or Patient Power. Our discussions are not a substitute for seeking medical advice or care from your own doctor. That’s how you’ll get care that’s most appropriate for you.
Cindy Chmielewski:
Has anyone else used acupuncture or any of the other like mind-body type of interventions, maybe yoga, meditation, anything like that that may help with certain of your side effects?
Jill Zitzewitz:
I definitely have been doing a lot of mindfulness since then and I think it has helped just with overall anxiety that comes along with disease and everything to kind of keep that under control. So just spending a few moments at the start and end of every day just being mindful and peaceful.
Cindy Chmielewski:
Can you describe a little bit about what a mindfulness practice looks like?
Jill Zitzewitz:
So for me it's just—really just a centering moment where you just really focus in on, maybe my finger, my knee, maybe the—oftentimes it's the tree outside my house that I can see in the yard and just kind of really just noticing that. Just noticing the tree or sometimes noticing the birds singing but just letting everything else go away while you focus very much on one particular item.
Cindy Chmielewski:
Okay. I did some mindfulness training at one of our support groups, and it seems like something that would be very beneficial. I really need to try a little bit more of that practice. Maybe that would help a little more.
How about pain? Ways of dealing with whether it's back pain or any type of bone pain. Anyone have suggestions?
Jill Zitzewitz:
So mindfulness definitely has helped with my pain as well. I seem to be able to kind of forget about it for a bit. Another thing that really for me, I'm in love with my heating pad, so I find for my back at the end of the day I just need to sit on it, so I'll have the air conditioner blaring so I can actually sit on my heating pad and kind of get some relief that way.
Please remember the opinions expressed on Patient Power are not necessarily the views of our sponsors, contributors, partners or Patient Power. Our discussions are not a substitute for seeking medical advice or care from your own doctor. That’s how you’ll get care that’s most appropriate for you.
