The HPA Group Oncology Day Hospital is available in three hospitals: Alvor (Portimão), Gambelas (Faro) and Funchal (HPM). The services focus on monitoring and clinical treatment of patients with oncological pathology and supportive care (pain / palliative).
We have a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, nutritionists, psychologists and specialist pain consultants, and the entire team has experience and skills in Oncology and Pain, consolidated over several years of clinical practice.
These professionals also have the support of all the services and medical specialties that the HPA provides, such as General and Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy, among many others.
#Treatments oncology #Oncosexology #Nutrition and cancer disease #Cancer patient manager
All types of treatments are carried out depending on the Oncological Pathology that the patient presents.
We work at the level of symptomatic control of the disease and its complications, focusing care on the patient and their families, integrating them into the treatment process, thus ensuring rigorous, humanized healthcare, with comfort and dignity for the patient and family.
Included as part of our care, oral medication is also made available (cytostatics, targeted therapies, analgesics and others), as well as surveillance, teaching to the patient/family and support measures - in case of complications.
Day Hospital nurses follow and monitor the patient's path within the Hospital and facilitate communication with the outside world, such as paying entities, radiotherapy centres and patient associations.
The treatments most carried out in this Unit are:
Sexuality is an integral part of life, contributing to physical and psychological balance, linking the affective, interactive and emotional dimensions.
The ability to achieve sexual health depends on several factors, which are worked out in conjunction with the Day Hospital team (your assistant doctor and nurses).
During the entire process of cancer treatment, it is inevitable that changes occur, some temporary, others permanent.
What changes can occur?
Urinary incontinence;
Weakness of the pelvic floor;
Dyspareunia (pain during sexual intercourse);
Early menopause;
Infertility;
Narrowing of the vaginal canal;
Loss of libido (sexual desire);
Fear of failure and rejection;
Fear of pain;
Decreased self-esteem and confidence (feeling less attractive, less comfortable);
Changes in body image (hair loss/alopecia, scars, weight changes, colostomy, nephrostomy, ileostomy, among others);
Loss of sensitivity;
Increased emotional distress (depression, irritability, anxiety, anxiety, loss of interest, sleep and appetite disturbances).
You may not feel like having sex during treatment, and at this stage it is important to have open communication with your partner so that there is mutual pleasure. This is because your partner may feel guilt, fear of hurting, fear of the consequences of the disease and may also be suffering with the changes you are going through.
What changes can you adopt?
A good nutritional state is crucial during the process of cancer treatments.
Nutritional advice from Dr. Marina Augusto Estêvão
Lack of appetite is a symptom common to most cancer users, which during treatment increases the risk of malnutrition. If this is not contradicted, it can lead to a decrease in body weight and muscle mass.
A good diet increases well-being and allows for the continuation of treatments, as well as helping to deal with associated complications such as changes in taste and gastrointestinal disturbances. Furthermore, it helps to restore the body's defences to deal with the treatment.
Here are some tips to help mitigate the effects of treatments and thus contribute to an improvement in nutritional status:
The diagnosis of an oncological disease results in many anxieties and doubts, some of them to do with day-today living activities.
As an example, these are some questions that our patients usually question:
To answer these questions and promote a comprehensive monitoring of cancer patients and their family/caregivers, we now have a Cancer Patient Manager in each of our Day Care Hospitals.
Main functions of the cancer patient manager
Cristina Oliveira
HPA Alvor
Daniel Vicente
HPA Gambelas
Marcos Santos
HPA Madeira