self.dispatcher.add_handler(CommandHandler("help", self.help))

bot.send_message(
            chat_id=update.message.chat_id,
            text=txt,
            parse_mode=telegram.ParseMode.MARKDOWN,
        )

bot = Bot(...)
bot.send_message("something")

def send_message_plus(bot, message):
    bot.send_message("This is extra " + message)

send_message_plus(bot, message)