Frequently Asked Questions

Palliative care can be provided at all points in the disease course – from diagnosis through curative treatment, recovery or progression of the disease, to death and bereavement support.

Symptoms mean problems that arise from the illness/ the treatment for the illness such as: Pain – prevents an individual from being themselves and doing what they want. It affects their food intake, socialising and sleep leading to extreme distress. Nausea and Vomiting – prevents them from even having the smell of food. Distressing as unable to maintain strength and nourishment. Fatigue – feeling helpless as they are unable to be themselves. Breathlessness – Inability to walk or interact with family, distressing to the patient. Constipation – Not everyone wants to talk about it, but can be disabling causing loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating. Delirium – Distressing for patient and family, where the patient will be in confused, forgetful or irritable. Core principles of Palliative medicine: Affirms life to be lived to the best possible quality. Provide personalised care and relief from distressing symptoms, throughout their illness. Affirms that pain can be psychological, emotional and spiritual and need to be heard and addressed professionally. Aim of any treatment is to neither speed up nor delay death. Accepts death and dying as normal physiological aspects of life. Respect the goals of care set by the patient and family.

The true scope of Pain and Palliative Care encompasses the care of a patient with a life-limiting illness, including, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic liver disease, Stroke, Neurological illnesses, cerebral palsy, cancer, AIDS, geriatric care, paediatric palliative care and those near the end of life.

Palliative care is a speciality in medicine that provides supportive care and symptom control for individuals across all ages with serious health-related suffering due to severe illness or its treatment. It aims to improve in a holistic manner, the quality and dignity of life of patients and their caregivers. Early integration of palliative care has proved scientifically to improve the longevity of life.

If your child is diagnosed with any of the above-mentioned conditions. If your physician/pediatrician has advised a bone marrow transplant as an option. Children who are diagnosed with cancers and do not respond to chemotherapy. Children who remain unwell and have recurrent infections. Immunological testing and a visit to an Immunologist is warranted. The immunologist would guide you, in case a transplant is needed in your situation.

Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) is a complex procedure requiring hospitalization for a month and sometimes longer. Following are the steps involved: The patient is evaluated for the need for a transplant. In some conditions, a bone marrow transplant is an emergency (for example – severe combined immune deficiency), while in others, it is an elective procedure wherein patients are stabilized before undergoing a transplant. Donor selection – Akin to blood transfusion, where one needs to transfuse blood with the right blood group; a match between the donor and recipient is of paramount importance in Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). HLA matching is carried out using blood samples or buccal swabs. Healthy siblings who are fully matched on HLA typing offer the best outcome in most of the transplants. Haploidentical transplants (with mother/father being the donor) and matched unrelated donor (MUD) transplants are the other options. Conditioning – Here, the patient is admitted and medications are administered to prepare him/her for the transplant. Bone marrow transplant – Bone marrow-derived from the donor is administered as an intravenous infusion to the patient. Post-transplant recovery – The Patient is given medications and is observed for recovery. This period involves periodic blood tests to ensure recovery is smooth.

The broad group of conditions where Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) is useful are as follow - If the bone marrow starts failing to produce blood elements – Aplastic anemia. These individuals have low hemoglobin, white cell counts, and platelet counts and require monthly blood transfusions. Providing new bone marrow from a healthy donor can cure these patients. If the hemoglobin is abnormal – Thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, and other hemoglobinopathies. These children require periodic blood transfusions and Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) can be curative for these diseases. Cancers–Blood cancers (acute leukemia), solid tumors (neuroblastoma), and many other cancers can be treated with Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). Primary Immune Deficiency diseases – Some children are born with a problem in their immune system and fall ill repeatedly. They may be hospitalized for infections on several occasions. Repeated ear discharge, pneumonia, or diarrhea are often noted. Such children require immunological testing. In many of these immune deficiencies, Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) is curative. Severe Combined Immune Deficiency is often present in young children who fail to gain normal weight and fall ill repeatedly. This condition is universally fatal without a Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). Metabolic diseases – Some children are born with defects in the enzymes required for a normal metabolism - Inherited disorders of metabolism, congenital storage diseases.

The department is divided into a number of different areas with different functions. This includes but not limited to: Triage, Waiting Area, Fast track, Resuscitation unit with priority Red zone, Advanced Resuscitation zone, Paediatric Resuscitation zone, and Clinical Decision Unit, etc.

Yes, radiotherapy can cause hair loss only when treating head, brain or scalp of a patient. It means hair loss is a common side effect that occurs in the area being treated with radiotherapy. Usually, hairs will start to fall out 2 to 3 weeks after treatment starts. In a female, radiotherapy to the breasts will lose hair in the armpit and male hair loss will occur in facial/beard/mustache. With radiotherapy of the head, brain and scalp, earlier the hair loss used to be permanent due to higher effect on the skin. In the present day, all these situations hairs start to regrow from 6 months to 1year in almost all people. In many it comes to the original level.

Earlier it used to be 7 warning signals of the cancer. Presently, since the cancer is not uncommon, the advice would be, any persistent (lasting beyond a couple of weeks or months), progressive (increasing in intensity despite regular medication) complaints not responding to regular medication requires investigation to rule out cancer. Consult Best Cancer Care Specialists in Bangalore at Aster CMI hospital.