Publication: Austin American-Statesman
Cancer treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic can be a lonely place, but patients and physicians find new ways to bring in friends and family, connect with virtual support groups and more. Caroline Coombs-Skiles, M.D., FACS of Texas Breast Specialists–Austin Downtown shares how telemedicine revolutionized the way she interacts with patients and their family members during the pandemic, how it will continue to be beneficial after and advocates for cancer screenings. When visitation was restricted during the pandemic, telemedicine allowed Dr. Coombs-Skiles to follow up with a phone call to a patient’s family members, share information about the diagnosis, the upcoming surgery, connect them to available resources, including nurse navigators and support groups, all allowing everyone to stay connected. Additionally, Dr. Coombs-Skiles shares that one of the downsides to the pandemic was people stopped doing their screenings and doctors worry that cancers that could have been caught in 2020 are now being caught a year later and potentially at a more advanced stage, which is going to affect breast cancer statistics for at least the next decade.
View the full article at the Austin-American Statesman.