Before surgery:
Before surgery a nurse or healthcare assistant may tell you how to prepare for the surgery, the tests and investigations a patient needs to undergo before the surgery. The investigations and tests needed may include:
- Blood investigations to check whether your kidneys are working fine, blood cell counts, and so on.
- Chest x-ray
You will be advised and instructed about not eating or restricted eating for a certain period of time before the surgery. The doctor also may prescribe few ointments and/or creams to apply on the surgical site to promote its healing and prevent from any infections.
These tests are done to ensure that you are fit for receiving anaesthesia as well as you’ll recover properly after surgery.
Evening just before the surgery day
You’ll be admitted, checked for vitals i.e., blood pressure, temperature, breathing rate, etc. Eating might be restricted and you’ll be given carbohydrate-rich or high energy healthy drinks.
During surgery
The team of doctors operate the patient under general/regional anaesthesia depending on the location of the tumor. Along with the tumor mass, the surgeon also removes surrounding unaffected tissue. This is done as a precaution to remove the tumor tissue completely and prevent its recurrence. In cases where the nearby lymph nodes are affected by cancer, the surgeon also removes the lymph nodes. After the microscopic investigations later, the doctors decide on the further plan of cancer treatment.
After bone cancer surgery
After the surgery, the healthcare team gives patient post-surgery instructions to take care of the surgery site wound.
Just after gaining consciousness post-surgery
- Usually, you wake up in the intensive care unit or a recovery unit.
- The onco-surgeon and anaesthetist review you regularly and watch your progress closely.
- You may feel drowsy due to the anaesthetic and pain killers administered to you during and after surgery respectively.
- The pain after bone surgery may last from few days to a week but its normal and will be taken care by your doctor.
Recovering from surgery
- Usually, the patient is made to walk in 2-3 days; in many cases full weight bearing while in few cases partial or non-weight bearing.
- Drain tube is removed from the surgical site in 3-5 days.
- Customised rehabilitation is followed to aid the patient in getting back to normal life.
During discharge from the hospital
You will be given instructions and explained about:
- Pain and how to manage it
- Dos and Don’ts after surgery
- Symptoms should be reported immediately to the doctor
- Returning back to work
The doctor usually schedules follow up visits for the patient after surgery to keep a check on the healing of wound as well as recovery of the patient.
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