by Naomi Kenny

Created on: March 10, 2009

Stomach ailments can cause a great deal of discomfort and can become life threatening. Stomach cancer may have no symptoms in the early stages. The later stages have symptoms similar to many other stomach ailments like, indigestion, heartburn, nausea, constipation or diarrhea, bloating or a fullness that doesn't pass, weakness or fatigue, bleeding bright or dark, that appears in the vomitor stools. All of these symptoms should be reported to your physician. The treatment maybe as easy as a dietary change or some medication. Stomach cancer is one of the conditions that a physician can evaluate with a simple procedure called an endoscopic examination.

The endoscopic procedure allows the physician to look down your esophagus into your stomach using a lighted tube, an endoscope. Direct visualization of all the tissues of the esophagus and the stomach are possible as well as obtaining a biopsy, a sampling of the tissues. The evaluation of the samples of tissues by the pathologist in the lab will provide a report indicating the presence of cancerous cells or non-cancerous cells.

Preparation for the endoscopic procedure is no eating or drinking for a minimum of eight hours before the scheduled exam. Medications to relax the patient is normally given prior to the start of the start of the procedure. The throat is sprayed with a numbing solution that removes the gag reflex just before the tube is passed through the mouth into the esophagus.

The physician may have had a barium swallow x-ray performed before the endoscopic procedure to help him pre-locate areas of interest. The entire stomach and esophagus will be examined with special interest to any previously noted areas of concern. While the tube is in place a small punch can be passed through the tube to take bites of tissue to send to the lab.

After the physician receives the report from the pathologist, decisions need to be made about treatments. The report identifies the type and extent of the cancer, so treatment regimes can be considered. Then a treatment program is being considered a second opinion is always suggested. The patient and family need to do research on the condition and treatment standards. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network is an excellent resource. The successful treatment of stomach cancers is based on the patient, type of cancer, stage of the cancer, the treatment program and the patient's response to treatments.

The important key to all cancers is early detection and intervention. The emotional, physical, belief system and support are extremely important for all patients receiving any form of treatment. Also consider prevention the goal of all of us.

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