Patient Care & Guidance
Know what happens next — at every step
Uncertainty is harder than treatment. This guide walks through the first consultation, the days around surgery, and the weeks of recovery that follow.
Your first consultation
The first visit is mostly listening and reading. Bring everything you have — even old or seemingly irrelevant reports — because a complete picture avoids repeated tests and delays.
- All previous prescriptions and discharge summaries
- Biopsy report, and slides or paraffin blocks if available
- Scans on CD/film — mammogram, ultrasound, CT, MRI or PET-CT
- Recent blood reports, including sugar and kidney function
- A written list of your current medicines and doses
- A list of your questions, and a family member to listen with you
What to expect in the room
- A detailed history. Symptoms, timeline, family history and other medical conditions.
- Clinical examination. Performed with privacy and a female attendant present.
- Report review. Your scans and biopsy explained in plain language, including what is not yet known.
- The plan. Options with their trade-offs, written down for you to take home and think over.
Pre-surgery and post-surgery roadmap
Five clearly defined stages, from the first appointment to long-term surveillance.
Step 1 · Consultation
Assessment and plan
History, examination and review of all reports. If staging is incomplete, the remaining investigations are ordered the same day and the case is placed before the tumour board.
Step 2 · Pre-operative
Clearances and optimisation
Anaesthesia review, cardiac and pulmonary clearance where needed, anaemia and sugar correction, and a nutrition plan. Blood-thinners and certain medicines are stopped on written instruction.
Step 3 · Surgery & stay
Hospital admission
Admission usually the evening before. Surgery duration, expected stay, drains and pain plan are explained beforehand. Walking begins on day one under supervision.
Step 4 · Home care
First two weeks at home
Written wound-care and medication instructions, warning signs to watch for, and a direct number to call. Suture or drain removal is scheduled at discharge.
Step 5 · Follow-up
Reports and next steps
Final pathology is reviewed at the 7–10 day visit and further treatment, if any, is explained. Surveillance visits then follow a fixed, written schedule.
Support built into treatment
Pain management
A layered plan combining regional blocks and oral medication, reviewed daily so you stay comfortable enough to move.
Nutrition support
A dietitian-designed, protein-forward home diet using familiar foods — before surgery and through recovery.
Counselling
Space for the fear, the family conversations, and the questions that only surface at 2 AM.