Cancer
Care at The Enoch Callaway Cancer Center at West Georgia
Health System
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Treatment Types
The three main types of treatment
offered at the Enoch Callaway Cancer Center are surgery,
chemotherapy and radiation. These may be prescribed alone
or in some combination.
Surgery: Most
cancer patients will receive some type of surgery. A
biopsy may be used to determine whether or not a lump
or mass is cancerous. During a biopsy,
some or all of the entire tumor may be removed and sent
to pathologist for diagnosis. If surgery is
recommended as a treatment option, a surgeon may remove
all of the tumor and surrounding tissue.
Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy
consists of medication administered orally or Intravenously(through
the blood). Known as a systemic therapy because
the cancer-killing drug, circulates through the body. Chemotherapy
may be a single drug or a combination of drugs.
Outpatient chemotherapy and
IV antibiotics prescribed by your physician, can be
administered in the Outpatient Infusion Center, located
on the second floor of West Georgia Medical Center.
Radiation Therapy: Radiation
therapy is the use of focused, high-energy radiation
beams used to kill cancer. Radiation destroys the
DNA in cancer cells and prevents the cancer from growing. As
the cancer cells die, the tumor shrinks. Some normal
tissue will also be damaged, but will eventually regenerate. Since
radiation therapy is a localized treatment, it destroys
only the cancer in the treatment area. Get
more detailed information about the different types of
radiation therapy and other
services offered through the Enoch Callaway Cancer Clinic.
In the early stages of cancer, more aggressive
treatment including a combination of these three treatment
options may be used in order to cure the cancer. For
patients with advanced stages of cancer, palliative treatment
may be prescribed to relieve symptoms such as pain, bleeding
and shortness of breath.
Frequency of Treatments:
Treatments are generally scheduled each day between Monday
and Friday. Each treatment usually takes about 10 minutes. The
patient will choose a convenient time to come and will
continue to come each day at that same time. The staff
understands that sometimes schedules may need to change
due to illness, other appointments, transportation
issues, etc. Adjustments can be made to the treatment
schedule if necessary.
The physician will see each patient weekly, usually on
Monday to answer questions, evaluate side effects and
see how the patient is doing. However, the nurse
and the physician are available at anytime during the
course of treatment.
Treatment is not given on weekends in order to allow
the normal tissue to heal itself or regenerate. The
Enoch Callaway Cancer Center is closed on holidays as
well.
Follow Up Visits:
Upon Completion of radiation, the patient will generally
be scheduled to see the Radiation Oncologist in two
to three weeks. At that time, the patient will
be evaluated to make sure they have recovered from
any radiation side effects. After that visit,
the patient will return to their referring physician
for follow-up. The referring physician may consult
with the radiation oncologist again if radiation is
needed in the future.
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