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Suggest Treatment For Malignant Mass In Colon While Treating COPD And CHF
My husband has end stage COPD as well as congestive heart failure. He has recently been diagnosed with a malignant mass in his colon. Because of his co-morbidities, the surgeon told him that he was very high risk and could possibly wind up on a ventilator for the rest of his life ...I need to know what kind of questions to ask. How can we make the decision to have or not have the surgery??
Thu, 24 Dec 2020
Hello,
It can be very difficult to decide whether to have surgery or not. In general, medical decisions are based on determining benefits and harms, along with the likelihood of each.
Discussing the benefits of the surgery (perhaps longer life, less overall pain, less constipation in the future, death, etc.) and the harms (short-term pain, possible life-long ventilator use, death, etc.) with the surgeon would be the best way to make the decision.
You should not be forced to make the decision quickly and can discuss the options with your husband and your family if you'd like.
For the surgeon to proceed, he or she would need to have explained the potential benefits and harms of doing the procedure and not doing the procedure (we call this "informed consent").
Hope I have answered your queries. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Take care
Regards,
Dr. Timothy Wong
It can be very difficult to decide whether to have surgery or not. In general, medical decisions are based on determining benefits and harms, along with the likelihood of each.
Discussing the benefits of the surgery (perhaps longer life, less overall pain, less constipation in the future, death, etc.) and the harms (short-term pain, possible life-long ventilator use, death, etc.) with the surgeon would be the best way to make the decision.
You should not be forced to make the decision quickly and can discuss the options with your husband and your family if you'd like.
For the surgeon to proceed, he or she would need to have explained the potential benefits and harms of doing the procedure and not doing the procedure (we call this "informed consent").
Hope I have answered your queries. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Take care
Regards,
Dr. Timothy Wong
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