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    FAQ

    Please call +230 660 6000 or email us at info@aeglecancerhospital.com
    Getting a cancer diagnosis from your doctor is life-changing, and we recognize the importance of your getting an appointment as soon as possible. Accommodating new and existing patients is a priority, and we will schedule an appointment for you at your earliest convenience.
    The time varies from patient to patient. When scheduling your appointment, please feel free to ask how long it should take.
    Most cancer treatment takes place in outpatient facilities and does not require overnight hospital stays. You should not expect to be admitted to the hospital on the day of your first visit. Your doctor will give you more specific information based on your individual treatment plan.
    Your doctor will review your previous test results, and may use them and/or may order new tests. We occasionally need to schedule follow-up exams, laboratory studies or biopsies. If so, these studies will be discussed with you at the time of your visit.
    Cancer is when cells in the body change and grow out of control. Your body is made up of tiny building blocks called cells. Normal cells grow when your body needs them, and die when your body does not need them any longer. Cancer is made up of abnormal cells that grow even though your body doesn’t need them. In most types of cancer, the abnormal cells grow to form a lump or mass called a tumor.
    Two types of factors contribute to the cause of cancer. One is a tendency or predisposition to develop cancer. The other is exposure to the triggers that start it off. Examples are cigarettes, environmental toxins, sun exposure, or liver damage.
    Cancer is common, but it's not really an epidemic. An epidemic means a very rapid increase in the amount of the disease, and in most cancers there is no real change. In some cancers such as stomach there has been a decrease, and in some cancers such as breast there has been a small, steady increase. This increase may be partly because of better diagnosis. There is an epidemic of discussion and awareness (thank goodness), so that at last people are talking about cancer. Until recently it had been a taboo subject.
    In a very small portion of special cases only. In certain jobs, prolonged exposure to a few chemicals may cause certain rare kinds of cancers. Nowadays almost all of these substances have been identified and are regulated.
    Yes. Cigarettes cause the vast majority of cancers of the lung. They are a major factor in cancers of the bladder, pancreas, mouth, larynx, oesophagus, and kidney.
    Doctors think a lot of it can. Established preventive methods including not smoking, preventing sun damage, practicing safe sexual behaviour, eating a high-fibre, low-fat diet, and having regular Pap tests would reduce the incidence of cancer. It's important to note that many people who develop cancer don't have any known risk factors. But more could probably be prevented if more information was known, so research is very active in this field.
    Screening helps find health problems before symptoms appear. Examples of screening tests include mammograms to find breast cancer and colonoscopy to find colon cancer. Early detection catches cancer when it’s in an early, more treatable stage. PET-CT scan detects cancer at molecular level and is one of the best diagnostic tool available till now for early detection of cancer.
    In a few cancers such as retinoblastoma and in a small portion of the more common cancers such as a small proportion of breast and ovarian cancers there seems to be an inherited factor that researchers can partly identify. In most cancers, doctors assume that a person’s cells have a low threshold for becoming malignant. So that person will develop a cancer with relatively less prompting by a trigger such as cigarettes or the sun than another person whose cells have a higher threshold and who may be able to tolerate more exposure to a trigger without developing a cancer.
    Cancer cells can multiply to produce literally billions of cells before a tumor becomes big enough to detect. That is why prevention and some methods of screening are so important. PET-CT Scan is the only scan that detects cancer at molecular level.
    Because cancer cells are very similar to normal cells, and a cancer begins with a very small number of cells. In a small number of cancers, certain tests can detect early changes. The best example is cancer of the cervix (the Pap test). Also, cancer is not one disease but a category of diseases.  For example, breast cancer is much different from lung cancer, so tests to detect or diagnose it are different.
    A lot depends on the stage of the disease and on the particular person. For instance, in breast cancer with involved lymph nodes, if you are postmenopausal, the best treatment may be a hormone tablet. If you are premenopausal, it may be chemotherapy.
    You are encouraged to understand the goals and risks of each treatment option, so that you decide with your doctor on the best treatment for you. Working together helps you to consider potential benefits against treatment risks and balance them during your treatment. Depending on your personal circumstances, cancer treatment risks may include absence from family and friends, uncomfortable side-effects or long-term complications. Cancer treatment can be inconvenient, prolonged, or unavailable close to home. Once you and your doctor have decided on a treatment plan, talk with your doctor about everything that you can do to ensure you receive the full dose of your cancer treatment as scheduled. You can make note of subjects to discuss and questions to ask your doctor.
    Knowing the stage and grade of a person’s cancer helps doctors know what treatment to use and determine outcome. Staging reveals how far cancer has spread and grading helps predict how fast the cancer will grow and spread. Cancer is typically staged as: Stage 0: Cancer hasn’t spread. Stages I, II, and III: Cancer has grown or has spread into nearby tissues and perhaps lymph nodes. The higher the stage, the farther the cancer has spread. Stage IV: Cancer has spread beyond the lymph nodes into other parts of the body (metastasized).
    In many cases, yes. Surgery is an often successful conventional treatment, as are radiotherapy (after or instead of surgery) and chemotherapy. In addition, conventional treatment can produce remissions in a proportion of cases when cure is not possible. So in some cases it works, and in other cases it does not. Your doctor will be able to explain whether the chance of it working in your own case is high, low, or in-between. That is why the discussions you have with your doctor about your particular case are so important.
    Chemotherapy is designed to kill cancer cells. Depending on which drug is used, chemotherapy can be administered through a vein, injected into a body cavity, or delivered orally in the form of a pill. Chemotherapy works by destroying cancer cells but unfortunately, it cannot tell the difference between a cancer cell and healthy cells. So chemotherapy eliminates not only the fast-growing cancer cells but also other fast-growing cells in your body including hair and blood cells. Some cancer cells grow slowly while others grow rapidly. Therefore, each chemotherapy drug is designed to target the growth patterns of a specific type of cancer cell. As a result, each drug works differently and is effective at specific times in a cancer cell’s life cycle. Your doctor determines the chemotherapy drug that is right for you.
    The goal is to make your chemotherapy as effective, timely, and problem-free as possible. Your doctor will develop a treatment plan scientifically designed for you and based on your type of cancer, its stage of advancement, and your overall health. Generally, treatments are given daily, weekly, or monthly, and your doctor will work with you to determine the most effective treatment schedule. It also can require your doctor to change your dose or rearrange your chemotherapy schedule. These changes to a treatment plan could ultimately make your cancer treatment less effective than it should be or even prolong treatment duration. To get the most from chemotherapy, it’s important to stick to a schedule of treatment and dose that you and your doctor initially set up.
    Yes, hair loss from chemotherapy is temporary. It will grow back, usually after therapy is finished. In some cases, hair can grow back during therapy. Usually the texture of the hair is different for the first year. Then, after a year or so, it usually goes back to how it was before you took chemotherapy. Hair loss from radiation therapy may be irreversible.
    Many treatments are very well-tolerated, but treatment is often so awful mostly because cancer cells are only slightly different from normal cells. In this respect, cancers are totally different from, say, bacterial infections such as pneumonia or tuberculosis. Because bacteria are completely different from your body’s cells, antibiotics can kill them and not affect you very much. But because cancer cells are very like your normal cells, in order to kill them you (usually) risk doing considerable damage to normal cells or tissues.
    No. The side effects occur because the chemotherapy hurts normal cells that divide often, as well as the cancer cells. There is much that can be done to prevent or lessen the side effects that a person gets after chemotherapy.
    Nausea and vomiting are the worst of the side effects for many people. These often can be controlled. Fatigue is finally getting the attention it deserves, and there are many self-care tips that can help. Anaemia, which can cause fatigue, can also be prevented or treated in many cases.
    No. Anaemia is a common condition that can be caused by non-cancer (benign) conditions. Some cancers can suppress the body's ability to make blood normally. Some cancer treatments can cause anaemia. Many cancer patients will never have anaemia; and many people without cancer can develop anaemia for other reasons.
    The red blood cells in the body live for about 120 days, or 3 months. Chemotherapy doesn’t hurt the red blood cells that are already made and circulating in the blood. Chemotherapy injures the cells in the bone marrow that make the red blood cells. The chemotherapy prevents these cells from replacing the normal red blood cells when they are used up. That is why the anaemia may not develop for a while after the chemotherapy starts.
    This depends on the cause of the anaemia. If the anaemia is caused by not enough building blocks in the body, like iron, folic acid, or vitamin B12, the treatment includes adding these back to the body. Red blood cells can then be made, and the blood values return to normal. If the cause is chemotherapy, or sometimes radiation, then red blood cell transfusions or injections of erythropoietin can be given in some cases. Erythropoietin is a natural hormone made by the kidneys that tells the bone marrow to make more red blood cells.
    Anaemia has many different types and causes. Alcohol can cause anaemia by suppressing the body's ability to make blood normally. Alcohol use can also lead to conditions that increase the risk of bleeding, poor nutrition, and chronic disease that leads to anaemia. If you have questions about using alcohol during cancer treatment, talk with your doctor about healthy habits related to it.
    Yes, fatigue is a real symptom. Fatigue can lead to a decrease in quality of life. Factors such as treatment, low red blood cell count (anaemia), stress, difficulty sleeping, and poor nutrition can all add to fatigue. Still, since no one else can see your fatigue, it's common to question yourself about it. Fatigue is often a real part of cancer and its treatment. 
    Fatigue can't be prevented because the exact cause of fatigue is not always known. But you can decrease the effect of fatigue, such as conserving energy. If your fatigue is related to low red blood cell count (anaemia), there are ways to raise your level and relieve fatigue. See the information in the fatigue topic zone, and talk with your nurse or doctor so that he or she can help you to manage fatigue.
    Fatigue related to treatments usually starts about the second or third week of treatment, and may continue for up to 3 months or longer afterward. It is important to take good care of yourself. This means eating a well-balanced diet, drinking lots of fluid, sleeping well at night, and doing exercise as tolerated, such as walking regularly. Once you start feeling fatigued, match your activity to how you feel. You should identify the activities or tasks that you have to do, and ask someone else to do the other tasks. First, if you are driving yourself to your treatments, see if someone else can drive you to your treatments when you start feeling tired. Second, try keeping a diary of how you feel, what makes you feel more energetic, what makes you feel more tired. Don't do the more tiring activities. Rate the activities using a simple scale, such as on a scale of 0 (full of energy) to 10 (absolutely exhausted, no energy). Third, talk with your doctor or nurse about problems that arise, or if your fatigue is severe.
    Fatigue affects each person differently. In addition, there are various degrees of fatigue. Some people may find that they are unable to do simple things that they used to do, such as climbing stairs without stopping or holding onto the handrail. Others may have trouble standing up in the shower, and get too tired, so a shower chair is helpful. Changes in mental processes can happen, and cause “fuzzy thinking.” It may be hard to concentrate or focus on things, such as reading or watching television. Visiting with family, cooking, or other activities that you used to enjoy before starting cancer treatment may now be too exhausting.
    Yes, exercise has been shown to be safe for people going through active cancer treatments, and in fact can be one of the best ways to relieve some of the symptoms associated with your cancer or cancer treatment. Our physical therapist will pay close attention to your medical status to be certain to prescribe an exercise program that is safe for you throughout the course of your cancer journey. At ACH, physicians thoroughly research chemotherapy treatment options for their patients to find the right balance of therapy effectiveness while minimizing side effects for each patient. As a result of these efforts, patients can maintain a productive lifestyle and integrate exercise into their lives while in treatment.
    Yes, many of our patients remain in their jobs and maintain a productive lifestyle during treatment. Our physicians are dedicated to finding the most effective balance of drug therapy to fight the cancer, yet minimally impact our patients’ daily routines, including work.
    This may be one of the hardest things to do. Most family members want to help and are just waiting to do something. Often they feel helpless, and afraid to ask if they can help. By being very specific about what you would like them to do, it will make it much easier for them to help. Sometimes, a family meeting is a good way to tell family what is going on, and to organize the tasks and activities. A family meeting may also be helpful when family members may not understand that fatigue is a real problem related to cancer and its treatment. Your doctor, nurse, palliative nurse or our volunteer can help with this, too.
    For a tumor that causes pain, removing or destroying all or part of the tumor with chemotherapy or radiation can help. Pain control often starts with medicine. Many drugs are used to treat pain which the patient and their doctor determine and alter as pain level changes.
    Probably because so many of the other major threats to health have faded somewhat. Until the 1940s people used to be afraid of syphilis and tuberculosis. Before that it was cholera and smallpox. Currently, cancer and infectious diseases are occupying the roles of humankind’s bogeyman diseases. Cancer has not changed very much, but people's perception of it has. In fact, the prevention and treatment of cancer has never been as promising as it is today. 
    Not as far as researchers know. In fact, the idea that the cancer “personality” or a bad attitude contributes to the cause of cancer may be part of the ancient human habit of blaming the patient for the disease.
    Again, not as far as researchers know. Many cancer centres are currently involved in finding out whether a certain diet can alter the course of cancer in some selected early cases. But there is no evidence that diet supplements, vitamins, minerals, or special diets actually change the course of a cancer once it has developed.
    Researchers have made tremendous and increasing progress in their understanding of cancer, but the gap between understanding and treatment (between lab and bedside) is a wide one. Because stories about cancer research are often reported in the media as if that gap were small, people tend to expect big changes in treatment. This tendency is partly responsible for the widespread feeling of disappointment with the impact of cancer research.
    Many cancers ARE cured. Since every cancer is different, finding a single universal cure is unlikely. This is similar to there not being a single antibiotic that cures all infections. It's quite likely that researchers will make further advances in some cancers. The biggest changes in cancer may come from prevention or from other directions, such as treatments or vaccines to prevent spread after the primary cancer has been removed. Obviously nobody knows what is going to happen, but a single, sudden breakthrough that produces a universal miracle cure is very unlikely.
    The brain produces chemicals that affect how well our body fights disease. Through the mind-body connection, positive emotions and laughter send signals to the brain which then produces chemicals that: Increase blood circulation Boost the immune system and help to fight off infection Relax muscles, restores energy, and lowers stress Improve mood and better manage pain and stress