- 4 weeks ago
Tips for Breast Cancer self care during pandemic & everyday with Dr. Ryland Gore, Niya Matthews, and Dr. Lisa Newman.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. My name is Allison McEvna, and I am the
00:10Deputy Editor for Essence. We have an amazing panel here today to talk about a very, very
00:16important topic that is really, unfortunately, flying under the radar. But of course, that
00:21stops right now. And we're going to be talking about it and raising our flags for it. We're
00:26going to be talking about breast cancer in the time of COVID, surviving breast cancer
00:31and all that comes with that treatment and learning about that, but also in this unique
00:36time of a pandemic. First, I want to, before I introduce our amazing panel, I do want to
00:41tell you guys about our wonderful sponsor, Ford. I want to really thank Ford for bringing
00:46us together for this incredible conversation. And in honor of today's conversation, Ford is
00:52going to donate through their Warriors in Pink initiative to the Pink Fund and Susan G Komen
00:57for a total of $25,000 to support the fight against breast cancer. If you don't know about
01:03Warriors in Pink, it's an amazing organization that's dedicated to helping those who are touched
01:08by breast cancer, whether they're patients, survivors, family members in the journey, and
01:14100% net proceeds of Warriors in Pink inspirational clothing, accessories and gifts are dedicated
01:21to organizations that help these warriors move through the struggle, such as the Pink Fund
01:27and Susan G Komen. So we have a great panel and many thanks to Ford for that. First joining
01:33me, we have Dr. Lisa Newman, who is the Chief of Breast Surgery at New York Presbyterian Medical
01:39Center and Whale Cornell Medicine. Next, we have Dr. Ryland Gore of North Atlanta Breast Care.
01:45Hi. Hi. Finally, we have last but not least, Naya Matthews, who is a real estate agent and author and
01:55a two-time breast cancer survivor and Warriors in Pink model of courage. Thank you for joining us.
02:02So ladies, you know, this is such an important topic. And I really feel like those who have been
02:08going through we hear a lot about comorbidities, but women who are going through cancer treatment or
02:13facing diagnosis in this time are facing such a unique challenge. Dr. Gore, can you talk to me a
02:20little bit about what it's like for those patients? What kinds of challenges that they're facing that
02:25are unique to this time? It's already difficult, right? Because somebody has given you a devastating
02:31diagnosis of breast cancer. And now we've been so limited in what we can do and how we approach
02:37our patients. And so for a while, we were completely shut down. And so much of what I do is dependent on
02:44physical exam and really having that face-to-face time with patients. But we found ourselves transitioning
02:50to telemedicine and phone visits. And at least in my practice, the patients just didn't take well to
02:57that. You know, breast cancer is a tricky beast in that those patients really need some of that hand
03:02holding and some of that extra delicate care. And I'm very hands-on with my patients. And so that was
03:08very, very difficult. And then add on top of that, trying to coordinate surgery, telling a patient,
03:14guess what? Your surgery is considered elective. So we're going to have to put that off. And maybe
03:19they need to do medical treatments such as chemotherapy or endocrine therapy to kind of bridge them through
03:25this gap. It's been very difficult and such a learning curve for everybody involved on my team.
03:34Absolutely. Dr. Newman, I'd love to hear your perspective on this.
03:38During COVID, we had to adjust our practices in terms of managing our breast cancer patients because
03:44all of our healthcare systems had to be focused on getting through the COVID pandemic. So I was
03:51working seven days a week in the surgical ICUs and therefore our breast clinical activities were
03:59shut down. We had to redeploy a lot of our clinical staff. We had to put all of our screening mammography
04:05programs on hiatus and many of our breast cancer operation. Those cases had to be rescheduled until
04:13later. And as Dr. Gore mentioned, it was extremely difficult and painful to have these conversations
04:18with patients who are already dealing with the stresses of social distancing and shelter in place.
04:24And now we're talking about delaying breast cancer diagnoses because of screening mammography being
04:30placed on hiatus. And we're talking about potentially delaying breast cancer treatment. So with the African
04:37American community already facing disparities in breast cancer outcome, these were extremely,
04:43extremely challenging times to get past and to overcome. For the telemedicine services that we
04:50tried to make available as a stopgap maneuver in providing some continuity of care, it's wonderful
04:58that we did have to adjust and had this as an option. But the digital divide is a very real thing.
05:06And African Americans in general do not necessarily have equal access to the internet because of
05:12socioeconomic disadvantages, nor do African Americans necessarily use the internet for health
05:18information. So we have to be really careful about exacerbating some breast cancer disparities when we
05:25rely upon telehealth and telemedicine. Absolutely. And are there, you know, when women are entering this
05:32treatment or they're just getting this diagnosis, you know, altering your care schedule seems like a really
05:38alarming thing. You know, even to anyone who, whether they've gone through it or haven't, it really just
05:43seems like a terrifying thing to even say, I have to wait for my treatment. So Naya, can you please talk
05:50to me, you know, having been through this and really known what those terrifying, difficult times are like,
05:58talk me through, you know, what, what kinds of emotions these women are going through in dealing with,
06:05you know, just the, the fear of, of the unknown and then, you know, what it must be like in a pandemic
06:11as well. Well, definitely you are, you're still in a surreal moment. Couldn't imagine that it's
06:18happening to you. Why me? Those questions that we ask. And then also you wonder, you know, what things
06:25can we do? You know, why did it have to happen to me? And what would be my next step on finding a
06:30support group that can help me get through the process? I am a two-time cancer survivor and being
06:36in a city where I don't know anyone, it was a very challenging to be able to find somebody to
06:42have the conversations with the depression that you go through, the challenges you go through on
06:47the outside and the process that you go through on the inside, even the mental aspect of it. It was
06:52very, very scary. And now that we're in this pandemic, I, I, I definitely have to reach out
06:58more to a lot of the ones that I know that are personally going through cancer because now you're
07:04in the home, you know, you're in your own head. Now you can't really get to the doctor how you
07:08would normally get to. It's very imperative that we reach out more and have that sisterhood there,
07:13that support there to help you go through that, negate through that process. And me too, having COVID,
07:19it happened to me, it hit home even harder because I had to not just deal with the issues that I have
07:26outside of, or on the, uh, from having cancer. Now I'm dealing with how to fight COVID and it's a
07:32very scary experience and it was a scary experience, but I'm fine now. So, so glad to hear that you're
07:38fine. One of the things that you brought up that was so, so interesting to me is about social support
07:44and how, when you're going through cancer treatment, you really, really need to lean on
07:48your circle, you know, your friends, your family, your mom, your dad, whoever, whoever in your life
07:54really brings that, that support. So, you know, talk to me how, you know, you think that that might
07:59be affecting people to not be able to even just reach out and get a hug or have that embrace,
08:04you know, was that a critical part of your, your healing and your treatment?
08:09It was indeed, but with social support with, with Fort Warriors and Pink, trust me, they are,
08:14they have been actively socially with giving us help tips, you know, finding ways to stay busy,
08:19trying to make sure that our mental is doing good, you know, even down to the bandanas,
08:23showing new ways on how to create a face mask. And I thought that was awesome.
08:29Books to read. So when you're home and you're on in your own head, you're trying to figure out ways
08:33to cope. I'm very, very, very grateful for Fort Warriors and Pink finding, you know, reaching out
08:39to us and giving us some tips on how to stay sane during this process for sure.
08:45So Dr. Gore, I want to ask you about, you mentioned telemed before and seeing your patients
08:51virtually and kind of talking them through the process that way. Can you talk to me about,
08:57you know, the unique challenges of that telemed is wonderful, but you know, I'm sure there are
09:02challenges that come up there. So can you talk me through a little bit of that?
09:05You know, for basic issues, for example, for a primary care physician, it's way easier, like,
09:11oh, my blood pressures have been a little bit high. Let me adjust this or, oh, my sugars are running
09:16this way. Let me change this insulin. Let me do that. But for breast cancer, something where
09:22as a surgeon, I depend on my hands. I really depend on physical exam. Most surgeons do to do
09:28their job. It is very difficult. And it also becomes a medical legal issue, right? Like that
09:34just doesn't hold up in court. You know, did you actually see the patient? Did you lay hands on the
09:41patient or you did surgery and then your office shut down? But what happened to the patient? What
09:46did you see? And so for me, it's so important for me to have that contact with my patients and they
09:53need that also. Post-surgery, that's a very emotional time for everybody, not just the patient,
10:01but their family and their children and their caregivers, you know? And so I, you know, I'm able
10:07to roll. I'm a millennial. I'm able to roll with the punches, but my little old ladies, they're like,
10:14no, I'll have my mask on and I will see you tomorrow at 8 a.m. And I'm just like, oh, yes, ma'am.
10:21Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. And so it's kind of difficult. And so it's been very easy to ease back
10:28into the routine after restrictions have been lifted. Not that I'm quite confident that that's also a good
10:35decision considering what most people are seeing across the country with the bumping cases.
10:40Absolutely. And, you know, one of the things that I love that Warriors in Pink is doing is this series
10:46of social posts that offer inspiration, gratitude, positivity, because, I mean, I would imagine more
10:53than ever, everybody needs that, but especially if you're going through cancer. So, you know, mind over
10:58matter a lot of times and you're going through this medical treatment and everything, but obviously your
11:03mindset is really important as well. So talk to me a little bit about that.
11:08Yeah. I would love to hear your perspective as the patient. I'm going to be quiet. I want to hear
11:14what, you know, an survivor has to say first, because it's so different from a physician perspective.
11:21You know, keeping your mental awareness, that is so, so imperative. You know, when you're home alone,
11:28you can't really get out, everybody's social distancing. The idle mind sometimes could get,
11:34you know, get away with you. But so having the sisterhood and having people check on you,
11:39going on social media, finding ways to stay, you know, yoga at home now, making gluten-free cookies,
11:44like we have some of everything out here available for us to be able to cope. And like I said, I had
11:50COVID-19 too, because I had underlining health issues due to cancer from endocrine and my immune system.
11:56And that was a very, very scary thing. And so I can only imagine for those, some of my sisters who
12:03are still in the struggle going through chemo treatment, what their mental health is like.
12:08So it was, it's very important to be able to have that support socially, online, social media,
12:15which is, I mean, I'm not a millennium, a little old school, but I'm learning ways now on how to work
12:20this all out, because this is going to be our new norm. And I'm just excited that we are just getting
12:26creative. I'm just here for it.
12:29From my standpoint as a physician, you know, I joke with patients, but I'm also very serious. I'm one of
12:34those praying surgeons. I know what it took to actually become a surgeon as a black woman, where we only
12:39make up 2% of physicians and 2% of surgeons. And that number is slightly smaller for women who go into
12:47orthopedic surgery or, or, you know, neurosurgery. And so it's a huge deal. And so I, I counsel my
12:54patients on spirituality and my patients, they don't care. I have these women, these women of
12:59color, not just black, but Hispanic, Indian, they find me. I don't know how these people find me all,
13:05but they find me and they have no issues with praying and injecting that level of spirituality
13:11into the visit because it's really important to them. And it's important to me, you know,
13:16considering everything I went through on my journey, just to get to this place where I get to take care
13:21of women that look like me. And I'm a big proponent of self-care, whatever that looks like for you.
13:27People been playing games. I see all these ridiculous memes and all that crap on IG. If you
13:33didn't start your multimillion dollar business and make $5 million and do three marathons by yourself
13:42or whatever, you're just lazy. Nope. Pause. We're not doing that in 2020. Self-care looks like what
13:48you need it to look like. If it means I got an extra three hours of sleep because I'm tired. If that
13:53looks like I spent time with my family, if that looks like, guess what? I didn't do anything. I had a
14:03whatever, whatever that looks like for you. So I spent a lot of time talking to my patients about
14:08that and getting back to getting back to you because you lose a part of yourself as you go
14:13through a cancer journey. Everything becomes about the doctor's appointments, what the surgeon wants,
14:18what the radiation doctor wants, what the medical oncologist wants, and all these things you have to
14:22do to maintain your health during chemo. And so I like to bring it back and spend part of my visits
14:28talking about that. Like, okay, so what did you do for you?
14:30And with the anxiety being at an all-time high, a lot of people are anxious and they're in their
14:36own heads. And it's very important to find ways, like you said, to first to take self-care. That's
14:42so important. I've just learned how to slow down and appreciate, you know, those, the simple things
14:48in life. And, you know, with being a two-time cancer survivor, you know, would have never thought
14:52that not just once, but twice you beat this thing and now you got COVID. You have to have some sense of
14:57foundation mentally, spiritually, and at whole to be able to, you know, to cope with this during this
15:03time. Well, ladies, this was such a wonderful conversation and I just am so grateful to you.
15:09And I have to thank both of you and Dr. Lisa for joining us and having this amazing conversation.
15:17And of course, we must thank Ford for bringing this together, for, you know, participating in this
15:23wonderful discussion at Essence Festival and their generous support of the Pink Fund and Susan G.
15:28Coleman with a donation of $25,000 in honor of Ford's Warriors for Pink. Thank you guys so much
15:35and please take care of yourselves. Likewise. Thank you. Thank you.
Comments