The type of surgery for stomach cancer depends mainly on where the cancer is
located. The surgeon may remove the whole stomach or only the part that has the
cancer.
You and your surgeon can talk about the types of surgery and which may be
right for you:
Partial (subtotal) gastrectomy for tumors at the lower part of the stomach:
The surgeon removes the lower part of the stomach with the cancer. The surgeon
attaches the remaining part of the stomach to the intestine. Nearby lymph nodes
and other tissues may also be removed.
Total gastrectomy for tumors at the upper
part of the stomach: The surgeon removes the entire stomach, nearby lymph nodes,
parts of the esophagus and small intestine, and other tissues near the tumor.
Rarely, the spleen also may be removed. The surgeon then connects the esophagus
directly to the small intestine.
The time it takes to heal after surgery is
different for each person, and you may be in the hospital for a week or longer.
You may have pain for the first few days. Medicine can help control your pain.
Before surgery, you should discuss the plan for pain relief with your doctor or
nurse. After surgery, your doctor can adjust the plan if you need more pain
relief.
Many people who have stomach surgery feel tired or weak for a while. Your
health care team will watch for signs of bleeding, infection, or other problems
that may require treatment.
The surgery can also cause constipation or diarrhea. These symptoms usually
can be controlled with diet changes and medicine. See the Nutrition section for
information about eating after surgery.
You may want to ask your doctor these questions before having surgery:
What kind of surgery do you recommend for me? Why?
Will you remove lymph
nodes? Will you remove other tissue? Why?
Abdominal pain is pain in the belly and can be acute or chronic. Causes include inflammation, distention of an organ, and loss of the blood supply to an organ. Abdominal pain can reflect a major problem with one of the organs in the abdomen such as the appendix, gallbladder, large and small intestine, pancreas, liver, colon, duodenum, and spleen.
Anemia is the condition of having less than the normal number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. The oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood is, therefore, decreased.
Lymph nodes help the body's immune system fight infections. Causes of swollen lymph nodes (glands) may include infection (viral, bacterial, fungal, parasites). Symptoms of swollen lymph nodes vary greatly. They can sometimes be tender, painful or disfiguring. The treatment of swollen lymph nodes depends upon the cause.
Nausea is an uneasiness of the stomach that often precedes vomiting. Nausea and vomiting are not diseases, but they are symptoms of many conditions. The causes of vomiting differ according to age, and treatment depends upon the cause of nausea and vomiting.
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a bacterium that causes chronic inflammation (gastritis) of the inner lining of the stomach in humans. This bacteria also is the most common cause of ulcers worldwide.
A peptic ulcer is an ulcer in the lining of the stomach, duodenum, or esophagus. Ulcer formation is related to Helicobacter pylori bacteria in the stomach, use of anti-inflammatory medications, and cigarette smoking.
Ascites, the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity is most commonly caused by cirrhosis of the liver. Some of the other causes of ascites include portal hypertension, congestive heart failure, blood clots, and pancreatitis. The most common symptoms include increased abdominal girth and size, abdominal bloating, and abdominal pain. Treatment depends on the cause of ascites.
Cancer is a disease caused by an abnormal growth of cells, also called malignancy. It is a group of 100 different diseases, and is not contagious. Cancer can be treated through chemotherapy, a treatment of drugs that destroy cancer cells.
Pernicious anemia is a blood disorder in which the body does not make enough red blood cells due to a lack of vitamin B12 in the blood. Pernicious anemia can develop from a lack of a protein that helps the body absorb vitamin B12, not getting enough B12 in the diet, and certain intestinal conditions that interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12 such as Crohn's disease, celiac sprue, or ulcerative colitis. There is no cure for pernicious anemia, thus treatment is life-long.
Gastritis is an inflammation of the stomach lining. Causes of gastritis include drinking too much alcohol, medications such as NSAIDs, ibuprofen, aspirin, H. pylori infection, severe infections, burns, anemia, and autoimmune disorders. Gastritis is diagnosed with endoscopy, blood tests, or stool tests. Treatment depends upon the cause of gastritis.
Smoking is an addiction. More than 430,000 deaths occur each year in the U.S. from smoking related illnesses. Secondhand smoke or "passive smoke" also harm family members, coworkers, and others around smokers. There are a number of techniques available to assist people who want to quit smoking.
Though it's difficult to say why some people develop cancer while others don't, research shows that certain risk factors increase a person's odds of developing cancer. These risk factors include growing older, family history of cancer, diet, alcohol and tobacco use, and exposure to sunlight, ionizing radiation, certain chemicals, and some viruses and bacteria.
Digestion is the complex process of turning food you eat into the energy you need to survive. The digestive process also involves creating waste to be eliminated, and is made of a series of muscles that coordinate the movement of food.
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