It is important to know that among the most common cancers in our country, stomach cancer can be ranked second.
The most crucial thing is that the number of stomach cancer in our country is still high.
According to the data: the prevalence of stomach cancer in China in 2017 is 101.49/100,000, which also means: about one in every 1,000 people in China has stomach cancer.
Although the high incidence age of stomach cancer is 50-80 years old, the number of young stomach cancer patients aged 19-35 years old in the last 5 years is double than 30 years ago, which shows how important the prevention of stomach cancer really is.
Generally speaking, the most common treatment method for gastric cancer after detection is resection, followed by chemotherapy or radiotherapy to assist in treatment. There are also some patients with advanced gastric cancer who cannot undergo surgery, so they can only wait for chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
How long can I live if I have stomach cancer?
In fact, the survival time after gastric cancer surgery has a lot to do with the type of gastric cancer, treatment time as well as treatment effect and post-operative adjustment.
Some patients who have just discovered the cancer are already in advanced stage and it is almost impossible to cure them through surgical resection. If the cancer is detected earlier and can be removed, the recurrence rate will be relatively lower.
Overall, the earlier the cancer is detected, the better the prognosis is.
Two to five years after the surgery, some patients can stabilize their disease and achieve clinical cure, and some even survive for more than 10 years after the surgery.
However, unfortunately, most gastric cancer patients are already in the middle to late stage when they are diagnosed, and the 5-year survival rate is about 7% to 34%, although they can live for another 5 years or even more after active treatment.
If you want to have a good prognosis, there are 4 key points in total that you should keep in mind!
First, pay attention to the wound after surgery
Patients’ resistance and defense are low due to the invasion of cancer cells, and their bodies are weak after surgery.
Therefore, we must pay attention to the wound care, pay attention to the hygiene around the wound, and do not collide and squeeze the wound to prevent infection.
If you see that the wound becomes red, swollen or even appears to have pus, you must seek medical help immediately to prevent the wound from deteriorating.
Second, postoperative pipeline care
Due to the special characteristics of gastric cancer resection surgery, abdominal drainage tubes will be placed after the surgery, with the purpose of draining fluid in the abdominal cavity and reducing the patient’s body burden.
It is necessary to pay attention to the patency of the drainage tube after surgery, and not to twist or fold it.
If the patient wants to get out of bed or turn over, the drainage tube must be fixed first to prevent it from falling off, and the color and status of the drainage tube must also be noted, and any abnormality must be notified to the doctor in time.
Third, early postoperative activities
Simple early activities after surgery can prevent venous thrombosis of the lower limbs and prevent muscle atrophy.
At the same time, it can also help the bowel movement and promote the gradual recovery of the patient’s intestinal capacity after surgery. It can also prevent the patient’s bladder from becoming impaired in urination.
Therefore, after getting the doctor’s consent, patients should carry out early activities according to their own conditions.
Fourth, postoperative dietary modification
This is the most important point for the recovery of the function of the patient’s organism.
Postoperative patients should uphold the principle of eating regularly and quantitatively, in small amounts and several times, and the diet should be nutritious to ensure that the nutrients required by the body can be replenished, with liquid food as the main food at first, and then to soft food, and only resume the general diet according to the specific situation.
Generally speaking, the intestinal tract will recover in about three days after surgery, and we should first wait until the anal discharge, after which we can start eating.
As the stomach is different from before, the digestive ability may also be weakened. Usually, try not to eat props or stimulating or indigestible food.
Regular physical examination and active treatment of precancerous lesions
If early symptoms of gastric cancer are detected by regular physical examination, further examination and treatment are required.
For example, patients with precancerous lesions such as atrophic gastritis, gastric polyps, gastric ulcers, and postoperative residual stomach, especially those with intestinal epithelial hyperplasia and intraepithelial neoplasia (i.e. atypical hyperplasia), need to be treated and reviewed regularly.
In fact, the reason why cancer is difficult to be treated is largely due to the lack of daily checkups, and by the time we have symptoms and go to the doctor, it is often in the middle and late stages.
Active prevention is the only way to keep us away from cancer.
