How can you contribute to your cancer treatment?
One of the most successful technical requirements for treating cancer is a a 'trusting, cooperative and knowledgeable" patient. Really, this seems most basic. But my practice in Chennai has been a complete "upside down" revelation. Having worked in Kerala, where most of the patients are well informed about the disease and know where to consult and have the appropriate treatment, the change in Chennai was radical. Here I see many patients who depend on hear say and anyone's opinion on treatment and spend a lot of time wasting without any proper treatment.
Once you are suspected to have a cancer in the gastrointestinal tract, the first thing that you should do is get in touch with a specialist in the treatment of the organ involved. For example, if you have a stomach cancer, you get in touch with a surgical gastroenterologist (Specialist in operating on liver, pancreas and intestines). If you have cancer in the head and neck region, you get in touch with a surgical oncologist (cancer surgeon). The specialist will put you through a number of tests to see whether you have cancer and what stage the cancer is at present. This is called a diagnostic process. At the end of the process, you would have undergone a process to visualise the cancer ( Endoscopy, laparoscopy, CT scans or MRI) and biopsy of the tumour, blood investigations that help in assessing the status of the cancer. If the suspicion of cancer is not confirmed by biopsy, but the suspicion remains high, the best option is to repeat the process to procure a biopsy.
A cancer is confirmed by biopsy in 90 % of the patients. Only liver and bile duct cancers are exceptions to this rule.
At this point, I would suggest looking around for information. You should seek information about your cancer, the available specialists who reside in your area, the facilities available for the actual treatment. Information about cancer is best taken from NCCN available freely over the internet. I would recommend my patients to do so. It is very difficult for the patient to decide regarding the expertise especially if you live in Chennai. One of the sad parts of cancer treatment in Chennai is that it has no cooperation between the different components. All three cancer specialists (Surgeon, Radiation oncologist and Medical oncologists) must be consulted before treatment is given. In Chennai, patients end up with one specialist or the other and never have the full component of treatment.
The next aspect is to know your doctor. Always look for the specialist training - the degrees that you should loook for are DM for medical treatments, MCh for surgical treatments and MD(RT) for radiation treatments. Specialist training in India has been there for more than 20 years and the experience of general surgeons in this area of expertise is really less. I think you will be able to reach a specialist in every major town or city in Tamilnadu. The biggest advantage of reaching a specialist is that they will know when you should be seen by an expert more senior and more experienced than them. What ever treatment you receive from the specialist will be the maximum possible in the given clinical circumstances.
You should also know where to receive the treatment. Cancers like breast cancer is easily treated in simple small hospitals as it requires very little equipment. But liver cancers and biliary cancers require good hospitals with multispecialty expertise. A blood bank service is also needed for many major surgeries.
After knowledge comes co operation. You should understand that once you are diagnosed with cancer, you will require a prolonged treatment which will run into several months. You might need to match the three treatment options (surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) for the disease stage that you have and comply with the treatment protocol.
Each of these treatments will require multiple doctor visits, several investigations and some painful treatments. Each of these treatments is geared to make you better. I have seen patients skip chemotherapy because they have heard about hair fall. The first aspect is "to live" and then it is to "live well". Your greatest role is to comply with your treatment regimen. It is best to organise your life around your treatment especially during the intensive treatment.
Last but not the least, trust your doctors. Though there are black sheeps among the doctors, many of them are good and derive pleasure from making people well. Develop a personal relationship with them. Have a good laugh with them. Your doctor will be a friend you will remember for life.
Remember, we are in this together and our aim is to make you better.
Once you are suspected to have a cancer in the gastrointestinal tract, the first thing that you should do is get in touch with a specialist in the treatment of the organ involved. For example, if you have a stomach cancer, you get in touch with a surgical gastroenterologist (Specialist in operating on liver, pancreas and intestines). If you have cancer in the head and neck region, you get in touch with a surgical oncologist (cancer surgeon). The specialist will put you through a number of tests to see whether you have cancer and what stage the cancer is at present. This is called a diagnostic process. At the end of the process, you would have undergone a process to visualise the cancer ( Endoscopy, laparoscopy, CT scans or MRI) and biopsy of the tumour, blood investigations that help in assessing the status of the cancer. If the suspicion of cancer is not confirmed by biopsy, but the suspicion remains high, the best option is to repeat the process to procure a biopsy.
A cancer is confirmed by biopsy in 90 % of the patients. Only liver and bile duct cancers are exceptions to this rule.
At this point, I would suggest looking around for information. You should seek information about your cancer, the available specialists who reside in your area, the facilities available for the actual treatment. Information about cancer is best taken from NCCN available freely over the internet. I would recommend my patients to do so. It is very difficult for the patient to decide regarding the expertise especially if you live in Chennai. One of the sad parts of cancer treatment in Chennai is that it has no cooperation between the different components. All three cancer specialists (Surgeon, Radiation oncologist and Medical oncologists) must be consulted before treatment is given. In Chennai, patients end up with one specialist or the other and never have the full component of treatment.
The next aspect is to know your doctor. Always look for the specialist training - the degrees that you should loook for are DM for medical treatments, MCh for surgical treatments and MD(RT) for radiation treatments. Specialist training in India has been there for more than 20 years and the experience of general surgeons in this area of expertise is really less. I think you will be able to reach a specialist in every major town or city in Tamilnadu. The biggest advantage of reaching a specialist is that they will know when you should be seen by an expert more senior and more experienced than them. What ever treatment you receive from the specialist will be the maximum possible in the given clinical circumstances.
You should also know where to receive the treatment. Cancers like breast cancer is easily treated in simple small hospitals as it requires very little equipment. But liver cancers and biliary cancers require good hospitals with multispecialty expertise. A blood bank service is also needed for many major surgeries.
After knowledge comes co operation. You should understand that once you are diagnosed with cancer, you will require a prolonged treatment which will run into several months. You might need to match the three treatment options (surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) for the disease stage that you have and comply with the treatment protocol.
Each of these treatments will require multiple doctor visits, several investigations and some painful treatments. Each of these treatments is geared to make you better. I have seen patients skip chemotherapy because they have heard about hair fall. The first aspect is "to live" and then it is to "live well". Your greatest role is to comply with your treatment regimen. It is best to organise your life around your treatment especially during the intensive treatment.
Last but not the least, trust your doctors. Though there are black sheeps among the doctors, many of them are good and derive pleasure from making people well. Develop a personal relationship with them. Have a good laugh with them. Your doctor will be a friend you will remember for life.
Remember, we are in this together and our aim is to make you better.
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Nice to know that you were helped.
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