Cancer Surgery Costs
The fight against cancer involves some cost at nearly every stage, form screening to detect the disease, having pre-operation testing to determine the best treatment therapy option, right through to post-operation health management. All these costs are usually high unless you opt for treatment on the National Health Service. Cancer surgery costs depend of course on the type of cancer, but, given that most cancers usually require surgery of some sort, all cancers are expensive to treat. Your final bill will also depend on the kind of insurance cover you have and the complexity of the surgical procedure.
Expenses you Should Expect
Some of the expenses you can usually expect for cancer surgery include the surgeon’s bill, operating theatre bills, the cost of anaesthesia and bills for hospital care before and after the surgery. You can also expect bills for laboratory tests, x-ray or ultrasound scans, medications and any other tests ordered by your doctor.
Your doctor may usually order a battery of tests, especially before the surgery, such as blood tests, chest X-rays, imaging scans like CT, MRI, Ultrasound, PET scan etc. The cost for some of these tests can range from hundreds of pounds to thousands in some cases and will account for a large percentage of the total cost of the surgery. Other costs you may expect are those post-operation costs required to enable you cope with any disability that results from the surgery. If you lost an organ as a result of the surgery for example you might need some sort of medical equipment – or an implant.
Again, depending on the type of surgery, you might need post-operation consultations with a medical practitioner, or require some sort of physical therapy to help you cope with the effects of the surgery.
Emotional and Psychological Costs
The financial cost of cancer surgery is usually very high, even crippling sometimes if you do not choose to have the procedure performed on the NHS. After the surgery the patient may have to cope with emotional and psychological stress resulting from the effects of the procedure. Some of these stresses will be the result of such factors as reduced functionality in a part of the body, physical deformity, pain, anger and loss of confidence, loss of a limb or other organ, etc. – all of which can have implications on the patient’s outlook on life and the will to live.
Some individuals adapt to the situation with ease, but for some others life after surgery can become a nightmare, maybe even requiring medical intervention to help them cope with the emotional and psychological stresses. This would naturally lead to additional costs for the patient.
Cancer surgery costs can be quite high, both the financial and the emotional costs. The cancer patient needs to be prepared in the pre-operation stage for both these outcomes. As far as the financial cost goes a final bill in the region of £5,000 to £10,000 is not at all uncommon for some types of cancer. One cannot of course put a figure on the emotional and psychological cost of the disease.