Dr. Robert Rodvien
California Pacific Medical Center
2100 Webster St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 717-7044
Listen to conversations with Dr. Robert Rodvien:
Getting Reliable Information
Information from others is often not as relevant as you first thought. Search engines have debates with both proven and unproven information. Friends and the Internet are not a substitute for nurses and physicians.
Smoking
Smoking harms almost every organ and accounts for nearly 20% of all deaths in the USA. Smoking is often associated with chronic illness before death with severe symptoms that diminish activity.
Before You Leave the Hospital
You, family members or friends need to understand what should be done after the hospital. Know about the activities desired, foods, wound care, medicines, when to see the doctor next and when to call him or her.
Alcohol and Cancer - 9:26
Alcohol, even one drink a day for women and two drinks for men, increases your cancer risk. Alcohol contributes to esophageal, head and neck, liver and breast cancer. The strongest association is with head and neck cancer.
Navigating the System
Know your insurance. Keep your primary care physician involved. Befriend nurses or office personnel. Have friends at meetings. Get professional help from other health care professionals. If needed, ask for a second opinion.
Loss of Appetite
The most common cause of loss of appetite in cancer patients is chemotherapy. There is also liver disease and sores in your mouth referred to as ulcers from chemotherapy. Medicines are available to increase the appetite.
Nausea
Nausea in people with cancer occurs but not in everyone, even when they get chemotherapy. Causes include chemotherapy, pain and cancers, especially in the liver, GI tract or brain. Treatments are usually very effective.
What is Cancer?
Dr. Rodvien describes the causes of cancer, discussing interactions of our genetic material that we inherit with the environment that surrounds us. Amongst these exposures, tobacco is the single most important cause of cancers. Asbestos is another. Viruses that cause one illness in most of us such as mono are related to cancers such as lymphoma in a minority of us.
Diarrhea in the Cancer Patient
Diarrhea in the setting of cancer may not be self-limited and can be dangerous to the patient. The cause of diarrhea in the setting of cancer needs to be identified, especially those caused by these unusual infections.
Anemia
Anemia is a diminished number of red cells in the blood. Red cell count, hemoglobin and hematocrit also measure anemia. Anemia implies you can’t deliver oxygen as well to the tissues of your body.
Leaving the Hospital on Coumadin
The total change when you leave the hospital on Coumadin can modify Coumadin doses significantly. Get a blood test, an INR, very soon after you leave so you can anticipate these changes in Coumadin dose.
Pulmonary Emboli
Clots in the veins of the legs or pelvis can migrate to the lungs. High risk times for anyone to get these pulmonary emboli exist when there have been prior clots, cancer, prior surgeries or hospitalization in general.
Genetics of Coumadin
We can measure two liver proteins that affect how long Coumadin stays in the blood. Measuring these two proteins may allow us to use Coumadin more safely. That research is ongoing.
Vitamin K and Coumadin
Vitamin K are chemicals that allow your body to change inactive proteins made in the liver into proteins that can protect you from bleeding excessively. Vitamin K is in food, made in your colon or stored in your liver.
Stopping Coumadin
Coumadin can be stopped electively, or transiently, because of bleeding. Talk with your physician about what to do if a high INR or bleeding occurs. The goal is to decrease your risks temporarily for use of Coumadin later.