Mesothelioma Info

Mesothelioma is a complex disease which requires many different types of treatment. Although your initial diagnosis is likely to stem from your doctor, you will probably come across a range of other doctors and specialists during your treatment and care program. Each type of doctor or team member specialises is a different field, and this helps to ensure that each patient receives the best possible care from the best suited professional. Below you will find a run down of a typical cancer care team:

General Practitioner: Your doctor may not be a specialist in the field of cancer, but is normally your first point of contact. He or she is also the person that can provide much of your medical history and details to any specialists or consultants who are dealing with you. Your doctor is the person that will refer you to a cancer care team or specialist following your initial visit and diagnosis.

Pulmonologist: This is a physician who has received specialist training, and has acquired specialist skills and knowledge in the field of lung disorders. A pulmonologist is trained to diagnose and treat conditions and diseases relating to the lungs, such as lung cancer, pleural, mesothelioma, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and COPD.

Thoracic Surgeon: This is a surgeon that has been trained and specialises in performing surgery of the heart, lungs, chest and oesophagus. These surgeons can deal with conditions such as coronary disease, lung and abdominal cancers, heart and lung surgery.

Medical Oncologist: This is a physician who is a trained specialist in the field of treatment for cancer through chemotherapy. There are a variety of different types of oncologists, all of whom specialise in the treatment of cancer.

Radiation Oncologist: This is another type of oncologist, who is also an expert in the field of treating cancer, but this time through radiation therapy.

Radiologist: This is a physician who is an expert in the field of using imagines equipment (such as x-rays, scans and ultrasound) in order to diagnose diseases and problems.

Pathologist: This is a physician who is trained to monitor and evaluate cell changes which can indicate the presence of disease. Pathologists do this through examination of bodily fluids and excretions, such as urine, blood, stools, sputum, etc. These doctors identify changes in cells and also perform post mortems; however, they do not directly treat patients.

Social Worker: Although not a medical member of the team, a social worker is there to provide invaluable support and resources to patients at a time when they need as much assistance and advice as possible.

Respiratory Therapist: This is a trained medical worker who specialises in evaluating, treating and monitoring patients who have had or are still having breathing problems.

As you can see, you may become involved with a wide variety of professionals whilst being cared for by the cancer care team, and with such an experienced pool of professionals at hand you should receive excellent care from trained specialists.

Because the various types of mesothelioma affect different parts of the body, you may find that you are dealt with by a handful of the cancer care team or, at some point, by every member. This largely depends on the type of cancer and the location and extent of the cancer.