The Emotional Aspects of Stem Cell Transplants

Louise Lavin

Louise Lavin is an advanced practice psychiatric nurse and a licensed professional clinical counselor in Ohio. She received a BSN with Distinction at the University of Rochester and a MSN in psychiatric nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist at the Philadelphia Psychiatric Center and on the psychiatric liaison team at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She has also been an adjunct professor at the Graduate Family Nurse Clinician Program at the University of Pennsylvania and at the Graduate School of Psychiatric Nursing at the University of Cincinnati. In 1981, she was one the first nurses in Ohio to open a private practice offering individual and marital counseling with a special interest in helping patients cope with serious physical illnesses. After being diagnosed with myeloma in 2015, she directed her focus to assisting fellow patients. She participated in the development of the training material for Healthtree coaches and was a speaker at the first Myeloma Coach Summit. She also presented a patient’s perspective on MRD testing at a MMRF webinar and served as a patient reviewer for the MMRF’s HIT videos. Presently, she volunteers as a myeloma coach and presents a variety of workshops on the emotional aspects of Myeloma. Utilizing her mental health background and her personal experiences as a patient, she strives to help fellow myeloma patients cope more effectively with their illnesses.

Audrey Burton-Bethke

Audrey joined the HealthTree Foundation as the Myeloma Community Program Director in 2020. While not knowing much about myeloma at the start, she has since worked hard to educate herself, empathize and learn from others' experiences. She loves this job. Audrey is passionate about serving others, loves learning, and enjoys a nice mug of hot chocolate no matter the weather.