For many women, what follows a diagnosis of ovarian cancer is the recommendation to undergo surgery as a first treatment and a way to fully determine the stage of the disease. In other cases, chemotherapy may be recommended first to shrink the tumors before surgery to make it more successful. In either case, many women are apprehensive about what the surgery entails, and how they will feel afterwards.
Dr. Kellie Scheider, gynecologic oncologist at Novant Health in Charlotte, North Carolina, often tries to reassure women about this step in their treatment.
Read MoreThe surgery may take up as little as two hours or as many as seven hours, depending on the spread of the disease. The doctors want to take as much time as needed to be sure they've removed as much malignancy as possible. If the cancer has responded well to chemotherapy before the surgery, the procedure may be quicker.
One understandable concern that many women have is how much pain they will be in after the operation.
"There's no such thing as painless surgery, but we do several things at our institution to try to help decrease pain," says Dr. Schneider. "For instance, we do TAP blocks to help decrease incisional discomfort."
The acronym TAP stands for transversus abdominis plane, and the procedure involves injecting a numbing medication like lidocaine along the abdominal wall to block pain in the front of the abdomen.
There are many options for decreasing pain after surgery, too. "I would say that most people feel that we control their pain adequately," says Dr. Schneider. "We use several different non narcotic agents to help decrease the amount of narcotics that we need." She explains that most patients are encouraged to get up and walk soon after surgery. "It may be a little difficult at the beginning, but it's been shown to improve how well patients feel," she says.
And when patients leave the hospital after surgery, "Most, with the exception of either the very ill or the very old, are able to go home relatively functional," says Dr. Schneider. She explains that these patients will be able to take care of themselves, move around the house, go up and down stairs, eat whatever appeals to them, and shower. "All the things that are important. But they may need help for a little while after surgery going to the grocery store or doing housecleaning," she says. "Still, it's reassuring for patients to know that they'll be able to take care of themselves."
"Surgery can be dangerous," acknowledges Dr. Schneider, "but for the most part surgery for ovarian cancer is very safe surgery, especially when it's done with skilled hands and in institutions that know how to care for cancer patients."
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