Post-surgery Meeting: What Should I Ask the Surgeon?

Cancer
1

I had a resection about three weeks ago. The tumor was in my right large intestine and large enough to threaten a collusion. I will meet with the surgeon next week and I am thinking about what I need to ask her. She's very busy and I cannot contact her for further questions so I want to think carefully about what I need to ask.

My main concern is spread and/or recurrence of the cancer.

Before surgery, the surgeon was unable to define the tumor stage, but said that the CT scan had revealed "suspiciously enlarged" lymph nodes. Last week I was unexpectedly called in for an ultrasound which focused on my liver and kidneys, which was clear except for a cyst on my liver. As such, based on the surgeon's pre–surgery comments and the need for another ultrasound, I am expecting that the tumor was stage 3b or 3c.

Regarding the meeting with the surgeon, obviously I will ask what was the stage of the tumor. I will ask if any lymph nodes were cancerous, how many she removed, and how many were cancerous.

I will ask what post–surgery treatment program I will follow, including what drugs I will have to take (I understand chemo drugs are in pill forms these days). I will also ask about future checks (colonoscopies, CT scans), and when they will happen.

I will also ask her what are the symptoms of cancer recurrence and spread and what I should watch out for, and who I should contact if I think the cancer has recurred or spread. I don't know how rapidly a secondary tumor can develop. Can it happen very quickly or does it take year for anything to happen?

I'd appreciate your thoughts. As I said, she will be hard to contact after this meeting, so I want to ask everything I will need to know.

2

You say your surgeon will be hard to contact. I really dislike the sound of that. Does she not have Specialist Colorectal Nurses in her team? All of the surgeons I've been involved with have, and I've been able to phone them whenever I had a question/problem. If they didn't know the answer, they would get it for me.  If she hasn't introduced you to any, that is a question I would most definitely ask. Sorry, I'm still a little staggered by her not being available to you!

3

Fair point. When I previously asked, she said it was complicated. I will ask this question again to her. I believe you've been through this. What type of questions did you need to ask the Specialist Nurse?

4

Anyway, thansk for that It's something I really need to ask the surgeon that wasn't on my list.

5

I've been able to phone her and ask if appointments weren't coming through I expected,  any odd symptoms and so on. She actually often phones me to ask how I'm doing if she hasn't seen me in a clinic for a while. It's just great to have a point of contact, to know there is someone at the end of a phone if you need to ask a question.

6

Thanks. This is useful. I'm in Canada, not the UK. It does seem odd. I've been treated great, Except there is no real point of contact.

7

A follow up for anyone this might help. I've spoken to someone who went through the same process in Quebec, and it seems that there are several excellent points of contact throughout chemo and after in the follow check ups in the year or so after.