Though lung cancer treatment in India works out to be on the lesser side, it is undertaken by specialists. They work for the hand in glove so as to provide the best course of treatment. Here the process would be on staging and then work out the best treatment plan. In terms of the correct treatment of lung cancer, it would depend upon
- The size along with the location of the tumour
- The stage you find the cancer is at
- The overall health
- The position of the cancer
In order to outline the best course of treatment, this could prove to be very difficult. The specialist is going to make recommendations but the final choice would rest on the patient. Though the main treatment options would include chemotherapy or radiation. It all depends upon the stage where the cancer is and then a combination of treatments is called for.
Before you go on to undertake the surgery a series of tests may be performed. It would be to check out the lung function along with the general state of your health. It includes
- ECG- with the aid of electrodes the electrical activity of your heart is measured
- Spirometer- Here you are going to breathe air on to a machine, which could clearly illustrate the amount of air that your lungs can take in and take out.
Now coming to the situation of how the surgery is performed a small incision is made on the side or the chest. Then the affected lung is being removed. Adjacent to the surroundings lymph nodes may also be removed if the surgeon feels that cancer has spread over to them.
As an alternative to this procedure sometimes VATS might be called for. During this procedure, you go on to incorporate small incisions in the chest. In one of the incisions you do on to incorporate a small camera and this would mean that the surgeon could see the images of the chest on their monitor.
Once the surgery is over it would take around a week to be normal. But as far as a lung operation is concerned it might take a lot of time for you to be back to full fitness. Once the operation is over the general suggestion is that you would be asked to move as far as possible. If it is bed then also it is suggested to move your legs so that blood clots do not form.
Once you reach home you will have to exercise so as to restore your fitness and strength levels. For patients of lung cancer treatment in India walking along with swimming are the most popular form of exercises. Do discuss with the medical team on what are the recommended exercises at this point in time.
Just like any other surgery type, there is bound to be a degree of complication. But it is on the rarer side and occurs one out of five cases. With additional surgery or medication, you can treat them.
