Cancer Surgery Facts
Surgery is the most common treatment choice for the majority of cancers and it is usually done to repair or remove a part of the body for purposes of treatment or diagnosis. The prospect of surgery is usually frightening and traumatizing, sometimes unreasonably so. To help you put your mind at ease here are some cancer surgery facts.
Understanding the Risk and Cost of Surgery
Cancer surgery sometimes, but not always, involves some extra risk to your health. A procedure done to remove a tumour could leave you with a damaged organ for example. In addition, depending on the extent of the damage caused by the disease, the cost of the procedure could be quite high. For these reasons it is important to find out what risks are involved and also the cost of the surgery.
Ask your doctor as many questions as are necessary to get this information, or seek a second opinion from some other source. Before the surgical procedure is done you will usually be required to sign what is called an “informed consent” document, which presupposes that you understand the risks to your health that may result from the procedure. But do you? Before you sign this document find out as much as possible from your surgeon as to what risks are involved. In some cases it may even be prudent, given the risk involved, to refuse the surgery! Yes, you have the right to refuse surgery.
The cost of the surgery should be your first concern upon finding that you will need surgery. If you choose to have the procedure performed on the NHS your treatment and surgery will be free. If however you choose to go private you should know that almost all surgical operations are expensive, although of course some are more expensive than others. Some of the costs involved may not even be obvious right from the start, post-operation prescriptions for example. All this information needs to be on hand prior to the surgical procedure.
Preparing for the Procedure
Before the surgery both you and your surgeon will naturally need to be prepared for the operation. The surgeon will usually need to perform some pre-operation tests to determine the nature and extent of the problem, as well as your general state of health. Some of these tests may be minor, but others may be invasive – and quite expensive if you choose to have them done privately. Tests that are usually required include scans, blood tests, heart and liver function, etc.
It is also quite normal to feel anxious and frightened by the prospect of surgery. Most of the time this is due to what the patient fears will happen to them as a result of the surgery. These fears range from fear of changes in one’s appearance to the loss of sexual function to the fear of death, and can be so intense as to cause an anxiety attack. The patient needs to deal with this anxiety, even if it may mean seeking medical intervention.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of cancer surgery facts but it should be a beginning for the patient concerned to have a successful surgical procedure. The emphasis should be to get as much information as possible before undergoing the operation.