Treatments

Surgery on the stomach and/or intestines to help a person, with extreme obesity, lose weight. It promotes weight loss by increasing the feeling of fullness and satisfaction after small meals through restriction of the stomach size and/or reducing the absorption of calories by changing the digestive system’s anatomy.

Bariatric surgery is the clinical term for several different procedures. The procedures use one or both of two approaches to help patients lose weight and improve or resolve co-morbid conditions.

Clinical trials, or research studies, are an important aspect of Cancer Treatment. Clinical trials help move the basic scientific research from the laboratory to treatments for people. By evaluating the results of these trials, we can find better ways to prevent, detect, and treat cancer. But very few adults with cancer (about 3%) actually participate in clinical trials. We need to test the best cancer prevention, detection, and treatment ideas in the shortest time possible, and this can only happen with participation.

Chemotherapy is the use of medicines or drugs to treat cancer. The thought of having chemotherapy frightens many people. But our experienced oncologists and staff can help you know how it works and what to expect. This can often help calm your fears and give you a better sense of control over your cancer treatment.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is a treatment option for patients suffering from severe depression who have been unsuccessful with other forms of treatment, such as antidepressant medication and psychotherapy. Bipolar and Schizophrenia are other illnesses that can be effectively treated by ECT.

It’s obvious to many people who have lived with morbid obesity for years that the disease has a severe negative impact on quality of life. Because of morbid obesity, you may choose not to participate in certain activities. You may feel that you have limited career choices.

What you may not know is that morbid obesity has been found to affect the quality of your health and the length of your life.⁴

Morbid obesity has been linked to several serious and life-threatening diseases. These co-morbid conditions include type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, acid reflux/GERD, and cancer. Most of these conditions do not develop for years. So many people living with morbid obesity may have one or more of these health issues without even realizing it.

Bariatric surgery may offer you a whole new outlook on health…

One study found that gastric bypass surgery reduced the total number of co-morbid conditions of participating patients by 96%.⁵
Many surgeons recommended bariatric surgery as a treatment option for type 2 diabetes.12 In some cases, resolution of type 2 diabetes occurred within days of the surgery.⁴
A meta-analysis stated that several studies found that bariatric surgery patients felt better, spent more time doing recreational and physical activities, benefited from enhanced productivity and economic opportunities, and had more self-confidence than they did prior to surgery.4

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment in which the patient is entirely enclosed in a pressure chamber breathing 100% oxygen at greater than one atmosphere.

Some common conditions treated with HBOT include:

• Severe foot ulcers in patients with diabetes
• Wounds related to infection of the bone (Osteomyelitis)
• Skin grafts or flaps that are not healing
• Delayed radiation therapy injury (example: osteoradionecrosis, radiation cystitis, proctitis etc.)
• Gas gangrene caused by infection
• Crush injuries
• Carbon monoxide intoxication
• Selected wounds with arterial insufficiency

Radiation therapy uses high-energy particles or waves to destroy or damage cancer cells. It is one of the most common treatments for cancer, either by itself or along with other forms of treatment. Our clinicians at Portneuf Cancer Center can offer the most targeted, tissue-sparing radiation therapy available.