Harsh truths can break even the strongest of people. Imagine if people are told by doctors that they would lose a part of their jaw bone, tongue, throat, or other parts owing to cancer. The near certainty that they would loose coherent speech, the ability to eat and swallow normally turns them aggressive.
Oncologists who attend such patients say people start cursing, rebel against their own family members, and become aggressive in disbelief that they have a severe form of cancer. Director of MNJ Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centre, N. Jayalatha, said depending on the severity of cancer, doctors have to remove a part of the organs of patients. “It reaches this stage because patient do not consult doctors in the early stages,” he said. “Usually, any tumour starts with a small lesion, ulcer. If this is not checked on time, tumour grows into adjacent organs and muscles. When a patient comes to us in this stage, we cannot opt for any conservative procedure, but remove half of their jaw bone, tongue or other parts. This has to be done as part of the treatment,” Dr. Jayaltha said. She said they seek the help of counsellors to pacify the patients who turn aggressive after learning that they would lose a few of their body parts. They seek maximum time to lead a normal life and talk to their family members to their heart’s content.
Five stages
Attendants of patients who lose jaw bones, tongue, and other parts approach the Tobacco Cessation Centre at the institute seeking help to quit tobacco. Medical oncologist at the institute, P. Krishna Chaitanya, said there are five A’s to the cessation programme: Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange.
“We ask the person if he/she is willing to quit. Else, we advise him/her to quit. Thereafter, we assess if he/she is in a position to quit or if he/she needs any other form of therapy. Then we assist by providing pharmacotherapy or counselling. It is followed by arranging follow-up sessions,” Dr. Chaitanya said. Pharmacotherapy involves replacing addiction to nicotine in tobacco products with chewing gums, nasal sprays and trans-dermal patches that have low doses of nicotine. “We need to replace the addictive substance. We have tablets that control their psychological behaviour,” he said.
