MyelomaSurvival.com is 2! YEA! Time does seem to fly, it has now been two years since this web site published its first posts. I had felt deeply that there was a need to highlight the survival statistics of doctors and hospitals for myeloma. When I was first diagnosed 8 years ago I could find little performance based data on survival. I had found just two hospitals which accumulated their own data, and were using these metrics to improve survival. Those two were Mayo who had published a 33 month overall survival and UAMS, Little Rock which had published a 7 year survival.
Since that time more and more doctors and locations have been publishing their survival statistics or 15 hospitals in total. Those that do publish survival data for myeloma do so for a number of reasons, and those that do not publish their survival data have their reasons as well. Because myeloma is so rare most hematologist/oncologist do not see enough patients to have a satisfactory sample size to provide a statistically accurate survival rate. Which probably means they are also not qualified to provide acceptable care for this very complex disease. Most that do provide survival statistics use this data to improve survival by comparing life expectancy by treatment protocol, and then choosing the best for their patients. And just like some children will try to hide a bad report card, some hospitals do not want to suffer the embarrassment of publishing poor results. Some forward thinking administrations have made this data collection a priority as a key element to support their myeloma specialists. And finally, those that have exceptional survival outcomes want to let people know that they can give their patients MORE YEARS OF LIFE.
In this last year the site has had 160,413 visits, or two visits for every myeloma patient alive in the USA, as well as 310,235 page views. I thank all of the people who have commented and emailed me over this two year period for keeping me motivated and in the game. How can I not continue my efforts no matter how frustrating it can be when I get comments like this:
"What a site!! for the first time I have a clear picture of what I am facing and how to help myself. I have renewed confidence that I can actually deal with this disease. No other site or publication has done that. Thank you for spending your time and energy on providing this valuable service. God bless you and keep up your great work."
Good luck and may God Bless your Cancer Journey. For more information on multiple myeloma survival rates and treatments CLICK HERE and you can follow me on twitter at: https://twitter.com/grpetersen1
Since that time more and more doctors and locations have been publishing their survival statistics or 15 hospitals in total. Those that do publish survival data for myeloma do so for a number of reasons, and those that do not publish their survival data have their reasons as well. Because myeloma is so rare most hematologist/oncologist do not see enough patients to have a satisfactory sample size to provide a statistically accurate survival rate. Which probably means they are also not qualified to provide acceptable care for this very complex disease. Most that do provide survival statistics use this data to improve survival by comparing life expectancy by treatment protocol, and then choosing the best for their patients. And just like some children will try to hide a bad report card, some hospitals do not want to suffer the embarrassment of publishing poor results. Some forward thinking administrations have made this data collection a priority as a key element to support their myeloma specialists. And finally, those that have exceptional survival outcomes want to let people know that they can give their patients MORE YEARS OF LIFE.
In this last year the site has had 160,413 visits, or two visits for every myeloma patient alive in the USA, as well as 310,235 page views. I thank all of the people who have commented and emailed me over this two year period for keeping me motivated and in the game. How can I not continue my efforts no matter how frustrating it can be when I get comments like this:
"What a site!! for the first time I have a clear picture of what I am facing and how to help myself. I have renewed confidence that I can actually deal with this disease. No other site or publication has done that. Thank you for spending your time and energy on providing this valuable service. God bless you and keep up your great work."
Good luck and may God Bless your Cancer Journey. For more information on multiple myeloma survival rates and treatments CLICK HERE and you can follow me on twitter at: https://twitter.com/grpetersen1
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