How should I prepare for my first visit to a surgical oncologist?
Patients must prepare by carrying complete medical records and past treatment records of their previous surgical treatments. They should also make a list of doubts to ask surgical oncologists at Aster CMI, followed by knowing the instructions and guidelines of the treatment.
What advancements or technologies are utilized by surgical oncologists?
The advancements in surgical oncology treatment are laparoscopy, robotic surgery, intraoperative imaging, navigation systems, molecular and genetic techniques, diagnostic tools, ERAS protocol, IORT, and fluorescence-guided surgery.
What is the role of a surgical oncologist in a patient's treatment?
Surgical oncologists at Aster CMI play a vital role in ensuring the patient’s speedy and effective recovery. They make treatment decisions based on thorough diagnosis, provide preoperative and postoperative care, collaborate with other medical specialists, and schedule frequent appointments with patients after treatment to monitor their health conditions and recovery.
What medical conditions do surgical oncologists attend to?
Aster CMI surgical oncologists treat multiple types of cancer conditions, including bone, brain, breast, colorectal, gallbladder, gastric, head and neck, kidney, testicular, thyroid, spinal and liver. They provide postoperative care to patients to monitor their progress and provide treatment for side effects.
What Document should I carry on my first visit with a surgical oncologist?
Patients must bring their medical records related to cancerous growth and its stages. They should also carry reports of previous diagnoses, surgeries, pathology, and imaging test results. Further, they are required to carry a list of current treatments, medications, and other details of previously undergone surgery.
Will a surgical oncologist help manage recovery after surgery?
Yes, oncologists at Aster CMI Hospital provide complete care to patients post-treatment, including monitoring their progress and recovery journey. They adjust medications, consider the treatment reactions on their body, and work with other medical specialists like nutritionists, rehabilitation therapists and naturopathic providers to manage surgery reactions.
What questions should you ask a surgical oncologist?
Patients should know about the success ratio of the surgeries required, their complications, risks, and potential associated reactions. Further, they should ask about the root cause of the underlying health conditions, the cancer stage, its location, and lifestyle changes required pre and post-treatment.
When should I consider seeing a surgical oncologist?
Patients must see a surgical oncologist in Bangalore when they are diagnosed with a tumour or when referred by primary care doctors for a biopsy. Additionally, patients can see surgical oncologists for preventive surgery to have precancerous tissue removed. Further, during the treatment of cancerous stages, frequent appointments are required for effective treatment.
Who is a surgical oncologist, and what do they do?
Surgical oncologists perform surgical treatments to treat cancer and remove cancerous growths. They also analyse the need for surgery by identifying the type of tumour, its location, and the stage when it’s diagnosed. Specialists also perform biopsies to diagnose cancer, and in collaboration with pathologists, they may also conduct staging surgery to determine the tumour’s size and impacted area.
Can radiotherapy cause hair loss on the scalp?
Yes, radiotherapy can cause hair loss only when treating head, brain or scalp of a patient. It means hair loss is a common side effect that occurs in the area being treated with radiotherapy. Usually, hairs will start to fall out 2 to 3 weeks after treatment starts.
In a female, radiotherapy to the breasts will lose hair in the armpit and male hair loss will occur in facial/beard/mustache.
With radiotherapy of the head, brain and scalp, earlier the hair loss used to be permanent due to higher effect on the skin. In the present day, all these situations hairs start to regrow from 6 months to 1year in almost all people. In many it comes to the original level.
