Surgical Oncology

Surgeons cross many disciplines that perform cancer surgery at Ingham. Surgery can be a tool for diagnosing cancer, or it can be a treatment, as a surgeon removes cancerous tissue or tumors.

• Surgical oncology team tackles nearly every type of cancer, operating from three locations
  • Ambulatory Surgery Center (Pennsylvania campus)
  • Endoscopy Center (Greenlawn campus)
  • Inpatient Surgery (Greenlawn campus)
• Operating room support comes from specialty teams of highly trained nurses, scrub technicians and certified registered nurse anesthetists.
• Patient comfort and best surgical outcome is the first concern of surgeons, anesthesiologists, and surgical support staff.
• Post-surgery, skilled nurses care for patients during recovery and healing phases. Specialized team members include dietitians, wound care, ostomy and rehabilitation specialists.

A sentinel lymph node biopsy in progress.

Here are some reflections from oncology surgery team members:

• "You must be very candid with the oncology patient, before and after surgery. It's important that the patient feels he/she is part of the surgical team. That bond of trust is almost as essential as the surgical procedure itself. As I prepare for every surgery, I try to imagine the emotions and concerns that patient is experiencing as they are being brought up to the operating room. With that, I scrub and hope I will be the bearer of encouraging news.
  
  
• "Communications skills are so important. When the patient senses your warmth and concern for them, you can see their comfort level rise."
  
  
• "We make sure everything is coordinated for the surgical procedure. We prepare the room and pull the supplies for each case. We rely on Central Supply, the Blood Bank, and Lab to make sure all goes smoothly for each patient's procedure."
  
  
• "I think we have a great surgical team. We know the skills we bring to the operating room contribute to the surgeons' efficiency and ability to focus on the procedure."
  
  
• "Warm blankets, soothing music, words of encouragement, and holding a patient's hand lets them know there's a fellow human traveler on journey with them."

Click here to search our oncology surgeons.