Medical information
12 articles shown
Surgery Went Well — So Why Recommend Chemo? Understanding Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Stage 3 Colorectal Cancer and Deciding Together When an Older Patient Hesitates
Why doctors recommend adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery for stage 3 colorectal cancer — to target unseen micrometastasis and lower recurrence risk — and how to weigh benefits and burdens together when an older patient hesitates.
When Blood Sugar Swings During Cancer Treatment — Why Sleep, Stress, and Hormones Move Your Glucose, and the Diabetes Screenings (Eyes, Kidneys, Feet) That Are Easy to Miss
Why blood sugar becomes erratic during cancer treatment — sleep, hormonal shifts, steroids, and stress — the role of rest, and the diabetes complication screenings (eyes, kidneys, feet) that are easy to miss.
When Your Hand Loses Its Grip and Grows Clumsy: Why Strength and Sensation Change During Treatment, and How to Keep Enjoying Hobbies That Use Your Hands
An overview of why hand strength and dexterity commonly decline during cancer treatment (peripheral neuropathy, muscle loss, fatigue), how to tell everyday treatment-related changes from warning signs that need urgent attention, and practical ways to keep enjoying hobbies that use the hands.
Dark or Greenish-Black Stool While Taking Iron After Colon Surgery — Telling a Harmless Color Change from Real Bleeding
Iron supplements often prescribed after colon surgery can turn stool dark green or nearly black. This is usually a harmless drug effect, but it needs to be distinguished from melena caused by gastrointestinal bleeding. Here are the warning signs to watch for and how to track and discuss them.
When the surgeon plans to remove more than half your liver: how the liver regrows and why the 'remaining liver' matters most
Explains why surgeons can often remove more than half of the liver, using the ideas of liver regeneration and the future liver remnant (FLR), and outlines what to check before surgery.
When Colorectal Cancer Spreads to the Lungs and the Plan Starts With Chemotherapy, Not Surgery — Why Whole-Body Treatment Often Comes First and How Local Options Are Reconsidered
A plain-language look at why systemic (injectable) chemotherapy often comes first for colorectal cancer that has spread to the lungs, how local options like metastasectomy and stereotactic radiotherapy are reconsidered in oligometastasis, the role of genetic testing and PET-CT, and questions to raise with your care team.
Lingering Soreness After Chemoport Removal: Why the Site Can Ache for Weeks, and When to Call Your Care Team
Even after a chemoport is removed and the skin looks healed, the site can stay tender for weeks to months as deeper tissue and cut nerves recover. This piece explains why, how to ease it, and which signs mean you should contact your care team.
Why a Short Walk Feels So Exhausting During Treatment — Understanding Cancer-Related Fatigue and How to Walk While Listening to a Tired Body
Why a short walk can feel overwhelming during cancer treatment: how cancer-related fatigue differs from ordinary tiredness, the many factors behind it, how gentle movement can help, and warning signs worth checking with your care team.
When a Small New Spot Shows Up on Your Liver Scan After Finishing Chemotherapy — Why a Small Liver Lesion Is Not Automatically Metastasis, and How Doctors Find Out What It Is
After chemotherapy ends, a small new liver lesion on a scan does not automatically mean the cancer has spread. This article explains benign liver findings, why very small spots are called "indeterminate," how contrast MRI, follow-up imaging, and biopsy clarify the diagnosis, and how to cope with the wait.
When Inflammation Markers Are Normal but the Fever Won't Break — Understanding Tumor Fever and the Many Causes of Fever in Cancer Care
Explains why a fever can persist even when inflammation markers such as CRP and procalcitonin are low during cancer care. Covers non-infectious causes including tumor fever, drug fever, dehydration, and cholangitis, and how a fever diary and warning signs guide when to call the hospital.
When Lung Surgery Is Advised Before Cancer Is Confirmed — Understanding Diagnostic Resection and Intraoperative Frozen-Section Biopsy
This article addresses being advised to have a suspicious lung lesion surgically removed—rather than needle-biopsied first—because it is large or has not shrunk. It explains why needle biopsy of lung lesions can be difficult, the reasoning behind diagnostic resection, how an intraoperative frozen-section biopsy allows diagnosis and treatment in a single operation, and that a second opinion at a major center is possible even before a diagnosis is confirmed.
Remission vs. Cure: Why Your Oncologist May Not Say 'Cured' Even After Good Results
An explainer on why oncologists often say 'remission' instead of 'cure,' covering complete and partial remission, minimal residual disease, and how disease-free survival and the 5-year survival rate work — helping patients read their reports and feel less anxious.