Guest guest Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Surgical excision with clear margins is very desirable, but it is usually more complex than that. You have to consider how speculated or diffuse the tumor is, degree of confidence in the diagnosis, the likelihood of present or future metastasis, its type and grade, past treatments, the success of current treatment, intended future treatments, whether any possibly cancerous lymphatic channels would be cross-cut, the stains that would be used to determine if the margins are clear, if the tumor could be invaded during the surgery, seeding, rapid growth from inflammation during repair, the feasibility of doing one of several types of available ablations, the location of the lesion, the appearance of the skin over the tumor, infection, the risk (or lack of risk) in postponing the decision, and, of course, psychological sequelae (e.g., a grossly misshapen breast in a younger woman). As to the latter, I know of a young woman who committed suicide after a temporary colostomy. I know of two young women who stopped all their cancer treatments when their bodies began to look like war zones after multiple surgeries. None of this is cut and dry. You know a surgeon is going to recommend surgery far more often than a non-surgeon. It gets more interesting when the surgeon leaves the surgical option to you - it usually means that he or she would personally have second thoughts on the necessity or importance of the procedure. I should probably spend more time covering this topic in our retreat program. Thanks for bringing it up. I can't count the times that a woman had a breast lumpectomy and then was told they would have to go back in to remove more tissue or have a mastectomy as the margins weren't clear. That " going back in " can be a very messy process that can produce a most unwanted appearance. We live in a very impatient culture. We are impatient and our healthcare providers can become very inappropriately impatient. We always want to act in a timely manner, but fast decisions are usually bad decisions. _____ From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Leonard Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 8:35 AM Subject: [ ] Re: surgery (was Dr. ' program for those looking for) robyn howell <robynehowell@...> wrote: << In my opinion if someone can have a tumor removed by surgery without a lot of damage and they have clear margins do that, then do alternative cancer methods>> I strongly agree. Leonard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 You're up against it, tough decisions to be made but I really admire the way you've done your homework. My prayers are with you. Natural health Through Natural means Is a Divine Right. Bell Buckle, Tn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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