Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Tumor

I think I'm a jolly kind of person, but when it comes to blogging all that I can remember are the sad sad stories!
There was this cute little girl of 15 yrs. we'd admitted her for an interval appendicectomy.
A simple in and out case with no complications. She had two ultrasounds saying that her abdomen was fine.Her appendix was removed through a small incision on her right side. During the procedure something touched the surgeons hand while it was inside the incision. Something that should not have been there. After discussing with the parents the procedure was converted to a full exploratory surgery via a midline abdominal incision. We found a large tumor arising from the right ovary, which was adherent to most of her abdominal organs. Cancer was most likely, so the surgeon removed the right ovary and fallopian tube.The tumor was sent to pathology for examination.
I try to see it from the parents point of view. They'd been told it was a simple procedure and that their daughter would be out of hospital in a few days. Suddenly these people in scrubs come up to you saying that there has been a complication. The surgery that was supposed to last less than an hour, lasts 3. Bags of blood are carried in to the theatre.Finally the surgeon comes out and gives them the mind numbing news- that the tumor is most probably malignant and that their child may need chemotherapy.
 We discharged her after a few days, to review when the pathology report came..It came as an aggressive malignancy. We hand her over to oncology. Our work is over. 
Its been almost a month now,  I wonder how the girl is standing up to her chemo? How the family is coping?