Healing Your Liver From Cancer

When it comes to curing a life changing disease like Cancer, there is no one doctor form a single medical discipline that monitors and guides the course of action for the patient. Different types of treatments are combined together to fight Cancer which is also known as Multidisciplinary team. These involve diverse medical practitioners like physician, oncologists, and dieticians and so on.

Initial Care and Basis for deciding the treatment

What treatment is to be prescribed to a liver cancer struck patient depends upon several factors like

• ·         To what extent or how much portion of the liver has been affected;
  
• ·         If the cancer has spread;
  
• ·         Any damage to the remaining cancer free area of the liver; and
  
• ·         Overall health and medical condition of the patient.
  

If the tumor is detected at an early stage and the functioning of the patient’s liver is going smooth, then the treatment is aimed at eliminating cancer. This treatment also involves treating the symptoms as well as the side effects of cancer which is equally crucial. If, on the other hand, the tumor is detected at a later stage, or when the patient’s liver stops functioning well, the aim then changes to slowing the growth of cancer and relieving symptoms in order to improve the quality of life of the patient.

Actual Treatment

Liver Cancer treatment involves two types of surgeries viz., Hepatectomy and Liver Transplant. Hepatectomy is usually performed when the cancer is affected in one part of the liver and the liver is functioning well. In this case, the rest of the liver takes charge of the smooth functioning of the body and within a few weeks re-grows.

Common side effects of this treatment are weakness, fatigue, pain and temporary liver failure. Doctors usually watch out for signs of bleeding, infection, liver failure or other treatments which require immediate medical attention.

Liver Transplant, on the other hand, can be done when the tumor has not spread outside the liver area. In this procedure, a suitable donor is found and specific criteria pertaining to the tumor size and number is laid down. This method is particularly effective for patients who are suffering from a small tumor which as it aims at removing the tumor along with the damaged liver.

In a typical liver cancer treatment, doctors usually watch out for symptoms which may indicate whether the body has or is accepting the transplanted liver or not. Medication is also prescribed to the patient to avoid rejection. However, use of such strong medications often results in high blood pressure, increased puffiness in the face, increased body hair etc.

Recovering from cancer is not always possible. When cancer cannot be cured or eliminated, it is to be understood that the tumor has reached the advanced level of severity. The whole procedure can be very exhausting and stressful. But it is always advisable to have an open and transparent conversation with your doctor and the doctor should also develop feelings of empathy for the patient instead of treating him like just another patient.