Thursday, October 4, 2012

Dr. Nir Hus: Staging cervical cancer

Deaths and new cases concerning cervical cancer hit 4,220 and 12,170, respectively. These are US statistics alone. Dr. Nir Hus once wrote about the multi-variant outcome analysis of Stage 1B of this anomaly. Cervical cancer stages are the determinant of the extent of damage in and the degree of treatment that doctors can perform on the female anatomy—by and without staging, figures surrounding these deaths and new cases can be altered.


Dr. Nir Hus Image Credit: Cambodiahealth.blogspot.com


Stage 1

The cancer cells slowly and stealthily develop in the tissues of the cervix: only regular Pap tests can scrape them out of hiding. Their growth is commonly linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. This self-contained growth is dubbed as the first stage, further classified into Stages 1A and 1B, representing respectively the smaller and larger growths. To experts like Dr. Nir Hus, size matters.


Stage 2

From within the neck of the womb, the nasty cells can spread into the surrounding tissues (Stage 2B) or right where the vagina closes into the uterus (Stage 2A) but not quite towards the vagina’s lower part or into the pelvic wall muscles and ligaments. Both sub-stages are also matters of tumor size.


Dr. Nir Hus Image Credit: Jama.com


Stage 3


This stage represents the cancer spread into the lower third of the vagina (Stage 3A) or through the pelvis (Stage 3B), in which the ureters are blocked.


Stage 4

The fourth stage is the bloodiest; the malignance taking root from the cervix has now spread into other organs such as the bladder or rectum (Stage 4A). When it has metastasized into the lungs, the form is further listed as Stage 4B.


Dr. Nir Hus Image Credit: Suite101.com


Treatment per stage varies from standalone or a combination of procedures: surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.

Visit www.nir-hus.org for an overview of Dr. Nir Hus’ studies on cervical cancer.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Life, interrupted: Dr. Nir Hus and details on postoperative care

After hours of lying knocked unconscious on the surgical table, patients are brought to the recovery room, still under the care of surgeons like Nir Hus. Relief should flood the postoperative room at this point, but the care intended for this phase must not be swept out.

Dr. Nir Hus. Image credit: houstonlaserspine.com

Protocol for attending physicians and nurses includes the monitoring of vital signs, signs of complications, body temperature, the wound, and IV infusions. Downtime period, it turns out, is also dependent on a patient’s willpower applied on the following practices aiding recovery:

  • Breathing deeply – Breathing the entire diaphragm-abdomen area in and out unclouds the lungs, preventing pneumonia to set in where the lungs have accumulated fluids from the body’s extended period of lying flat in bed. 

Dr. Nir Hus. Image credit: tennesseenutritionconference.org
 
  • Coughing – More of the chest secretions can be prevented by coughing. 

  • Spirometry – Medical experts, like Dr. Nir Hus, employ a spirometer to monitor a lung disease or the effects of medication in patients, among other functions. 

FDr. Nir Hus. Image credit: walgreens.com

  • Turning – Repositioning oneself on the bed can do the lungs and pressure areas good.

  • Exercising lower limbs – Depending on the surgery undergone, patients can bend their knees, or draw circles with the big toes or bicycle in the air to stimulate circulation.
Dr. Nir Hus. Image credit: free-ed.net


The intensive care unit is another designated downtime area but for patients needing tight monitoring: those who have just survived major heart attacks, are on artificial ventilation, or are suffering acute renal failure included. It is the duty of postoperative doctors, with which Nir Hus finds himself a company, to connect these people on recovery to the life that they’ve fought for on that table surrounded by scrubs and scalpels.
 
Dr. Nir Hus. Image credit: drnirhus.blogspot.com

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