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Doctors believe that the main reasons for the occurrence of stomach cancer are exposure to a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori and vitamin B12 deficiency. Sharp inflammatory processes that atrophy the stomach are not excluded from the causes of the disease.
Ways to get rid of stomach cancer
Rather, an operation is used for stomach cancer to remove it and exclude the painful signs of a malignant neoplasm. Patients, in order to avoid recurrence of the disease, use radiation (radiotherapy) or drug treatment. Strict adherence to the diet before and after surgery is recognized as an effective method of treatment. There are different types of stomach surgeries:
Complete removal (resection) when the malignant tumor has spread to the middle part of the stomach. During the operation, it is possible to remove the spleen and part (or completely) of the pancreas;
Gastrectomy, which gives the same results, but does not require extensive surgical intervention;
Partial surgery involves resection of the part of the stomach located near the esophagus, and sometimes a resection of a part of the esophagus is done;
Removal of lymph nodes is carried out, when adenocarcioma is detected.
Surgery to alleviate the patient’s condition
When the question becomes relevant: how long they live after surgery for stomach cancer, patients already know that the prognosis is not encouraging. But if a person knows the type of tumor, he agrees to the removal of part of the stomach. This operation allows the passage of food past the tumor.
Survival after gastric cancer surgery depends on the level of metastasis and the state of the immune defense. Strict adherence to a special diet prescribed by a doctor is very important for prolonging life.
When not to do a gastrectomy
Not every person with cancer will allow himself the removal of some part of the stomach. The attending physician should determine the following points:
Penetration (or absence) of metastases in the lungs;
Penetration of metastases in the liver;
The defeat of lymph node metastases, which cannot be removed with part of the stomach due to their remoteness;
Exhaustion of the body (cachexia), ascites, other serious diseases are also contraindications for gastric cancer surgery.
Rehabilitation after surgery for stomach cancer
The consequences of the operation have their own characteristics, they are that food enters the duodenum 12, bypassing the esophagus. Therefore, the patient should exclude from the diet foods that require long-term digestion. A correct and healthy daily routine is also very important during the rehabilitation time.
Usually, the period lasts 10-12 months, if after the operation of gastric cancer, metastases have not penetrated into nearby organs.
Effects of the operation
It does not matter at all that the operation on the stomach will entail disability. People who have endured this must organize their lives in such a way that restrictions in some actions do not affect the very quality of life. Dieting, going to the gym, doing household chores – such actions contribute to both physical and psychological rehabilitation.
It is difficult to determine how long patients live without gastric cancer surgery, but if a person leads an active lifestyle and simply forgets about his illness, then you can live long and comfortably.