Central India

Ahmedabad is a long journey from most Central Indian cities — usually an overnight train or a full day by road, and some families prefer to fly, sometimes with a change of flight. Routes and timings change, so check the current timetable from your city. Because the journey is long, plan to arrive the day before your appointment.

Your appointment will be at Sterling Hospitals (Sindhubhavan Road), KD Hospital (Vaishnodevi Circle) or Welcare Speciality Hospital, so confirm which one before you set out.

Before you leave home:

• Send your reports on WhatsApp (+91 76988 00333) a few days ahead — ultrasound, CT/MRI, biopsy and blood reports — so the visit can be planned and you know what else to bring. A video consultation is also possible, for example to go through your reports before you travel; a full opinion usually still needs an examination in Ahmedabad.
• Carry the originals — scan CDs or films, biopsy reports (and slides or blocks if you have them), CA-125 or other blood tests, previous discharge papers and your medicine list. See this list of reports and documents to bring.
• Come with a family member who can help with questions and decisions.
• Keep a spare day if you can — further tests may be advised after the first consultation, so avoid booking a tight return journey.

Many families in Central India consider Nagpur, Mumbai, Bangalore or Ahmedabad for specialist cancer surgery. The right choice depends on your diagnosis, how urgent treatment is, the journey and where your family can stay and support you. What matters most for cancers such as ovarian cancer is that the first operation is planned and done by a surgeon trained in women’s cancers (a gynaecological oncologist).

If you are considering Ahmedabad, send your reports on WhatsApp (+91 76988 00333) so the team can tell you what the visit will involve, or arrange an Ahmedabad appointment online.

Dr. Nishtha Tripathi Patel’s practice in Ahmedabad covers the main types of surgery for women’s cancers. Not every patient needs or is suitable for each of these:

• Robotic surgery — keyhole surgery using the da Vinci robot, at Sterling Hospitals and KD Hospital. It suits most early womb (endometrial) cancers and selected early ovarian cancers, and is not used for advanced ovarian cancer. For most early cervical cancers, open radical hysterectomy remains the standard, because a large trial (LACC, 2018) found worse survival with keyhole or robotic surgery; a minimally invasive approach is considered only for selected small tumours after discussing this evidence.
• HIPEC — heated chemotherapy washed through the abdomen during surgery (garam chemo), after removing all visible tumour (cytoreductive surgery), for selected women with advanced ovarian or peritoneal cancer who are fit for a long operation. Done at Sterling Hospitals and KD Hospital; it is not a guaranteed cure.
• PIPAC — chemotherapy given as a fine spray inside the abdomen through keyhole surgery, for selected women whose cancer has spread over the lining of the abdomen and cannot be removed. Done at Sterling Hospitals and KD Hospital.
• Complex cytoreductive surgery — multi-visceral tumour debulking including bowel resection, diaphragm stripping, peritoneal stripping, and splenectomy.
• Fertility-preserving surgery — trachelectomy, unilateral oophorectomy, and conservative endometrial management for eligible young women.
• Multidisciplinary tumour board — every case discussed jointly by surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists before treatment.

Dr. Nishtha’s practice is experienced in managing patients who travel significant distances. The care model for Central Indian patients:

1. Reports first — send photos or scans of your reports on WhatsApp to +91 76988 00333 so the team can look at them and plan your visit before you travel. A video consultation is also possible.
2. In-person consultation — in Ahmedabad, for a full review and examination. Bring all originals. The team tries to fit tests and the consultation into as few visits as possible.
3. Pre-operative workup — some routine tests, such as blood tests and an ECG, can often be done at your local hospital, if the team advises it
4. Surgery — in Ahmedabad. Hospital stay depends on the operation: often a few days after robotic (keyhole) surgery, and about 10–14 days, including 3–5 days in intensive care, after major cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC. Families arrange their own stay; Ahmedabad has hotels and guest houses at different budgets, so ask which hospital the surgery is at and stay nearby.
5. Adjuvant treatment locally (treatment after surgery) — chemotherapy, or radiotherapy (sikai), can often be given by your local oncologist in Jabalpur, Raipur, Nagpur or Bhopal, in coordination with Dr. Nishtha
6. Shared surveillance — routine follow-up locally, with specialist reviews in Ahmedabad as clinically indicated (typically every 3–6 months initially)

The goal is to keep the number of Ahmedabad visits to a minimum while ensuring that the critical surgical intervention is performed by a subspecialist.