Newly diagnosed
Wow this is harder to type than i thought, I was delivered that dreaded news last Monday the 22/2 that i have Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, as you all can imagine my head is spinning, although after 2 mammogram, 2 ultrasounds and a biopsy my inner gut instincts told me this was going to be the result, but nothing prepares you for when you hear those words, they tell me its only 7mm and that they have discovered it early, im off to the speacialst at the hospital in regards to a Lumpectomy, would love to hear from you all in regards to experiences with both public and private health, i am going public and wonder if should i concider paying to go private or is the public health systen just as good.
Look forward to hearing from you all.??
Comments
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Hi welcome to the site, it is hard to hear those words. I'm 2 years since being diagnosed. I had 2 surgeries and then told they couldn't get enough margin so ended up with chemo herceptin, a mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.. I went private as I have paid private health insurance for a long time. I have heard good things about public so it is a choice you will need to make. I have heard alot of positives about public.
Any time you go to the doctors make a list of questions and a support person for as a second pair of ears is always helpful.
Try and take it one day at a time, jump on and ask questions
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Hello sorry to hear that but very glad they found it early. I use private for my surgeon a lot of people in the area I live had recommended her. She did my lumpectomy that unfortunately showed more cancer so she then did my masectomy immediate expander in so let's just say she's still very involved in my treatment. I went public with chemo and radio only downside has been a few hospital policies regarding numbing cream during chemo and Metipal film I wanted to use for radio. However I am extremely happy at the care from my surgeon and having surgeries in private hospital. I've been happy most of the time public. For me I had to stop work and take up my income protection ( which pays a lot less than my salary) so I'm glad I went that way best of luck
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Great that they got it so early, my lump was 9mm, so not much different from yours. We has private health so I went private for my surgeon, he was highly recommended and luckily I have no other surgery bit if I needed to I knew he was going to give me good options etc. with my chemo I also went private, the only out of pocket was my $250 excess. I like the private chemo ward as been always very punctual and has a concistent nursing staff. Private also allowed me to do cold capping. I'm yet to do radio, so not sure which path I will take there.
best of luck with your lumpectomy and I hope your pathology report is one that maybe at the most requires radio and no chemo.
angie
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Hi, the initial diagnosis does throw you doesn't it! I have been public throughout my experience and have felt very confident with my treatment. I am in Geelong and my surgeon and oncologist also treat privately so if I had gone private I would have seen the same doctors. Once diagnosed, i had surgery within weeks followed by chemo and radio. And now that I am 4 weeks finished I am still receiving great care. I wish you well with your experience whatever path you choose. It does suck but it is doable and there is light xx
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Hi Tan74 and welcome.... so sorry to hear your news, I was similar to you with 8mm tumor and one lymph node positive. Had a lumpectomy + 4 rounds of AC, have finished with this now and they offered me radiation which I said no and now next step is mastectomy I went private as I like having my own surgeon and also private with chemo... Good luck and wishing you well xxx
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Hi Tan, sorry you had to join us here but I think you will be glad that you did as there is such wonderful support from some amazing women on this forum who have really helped me. I am very grateful that I live in Australia as I think the public system is really really good especially since there are protocols and standards for waiting times, types of surgery and treatment options that apply equally to pubic and private health in each state and territory. For me a consideration as to whether to go private or public came down to out of pocket expenses - I have definitely had to fork out more for private surgery than I would have if I had gone public - in the thousands of dollars. I chose private for my lumpectomy as I wanted a particular female doctor that specialises in a particular type of breast conserving surgery - but I found that because she was in high demand I had to wait longer than I liked. Other women I know who went private had surgery within a week whereas I had to wait for 3 almost 4 weeks for my surgery even though my cancer was extremely aggressive. I also chose private for chemo because it was closer to my home and have had no out of pocket costs for this. The private chemo unit is much smaller than our public one and I have the same 5 nurses from week to week so they know me really well. I am a few weeks away from starting radiation and have no choice but to have that at the public hospital as it is not offered privately. I have had my planning session for this and they seem efficient and understanding as they treat 120 patients a day and sure know their stuff. While it's a personal choice, unless you really want a particular surgeon for some reason, my view is that I think public is fine.
All the best, and take care,
Nadine
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Hi I received a very similar diagnosis to you on 29 January 2016. Im going public & am having my surgery on Thursday. I don't think it takes any longer to have it done public or private, at least that seems to be the case here in Adelaide
Paula0 -
I was satisfied with the service of going public. No hidden costs have arisen which takes the stress off my husband worrying about those sorts of bills as well as a sick wife.
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Thanks everyone, i appreciate your feedback, guess this is just the start of the decision making. ?
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Hi Tan
I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis. We are very lucky here in Australia to have a choice. I have gone public - I do not have private health insurance.
I remember reading an article on private v public. The private is great if you want to pick your own surgeons, etc, have a nice quiet room and see the one oncologist all the time. I am not sure if waiting times are any different.
The upside of public is that you have a team of professionals and oncologists looking after you.
Private would have been nice when I was recovering from surgery.
The staff have been nothing but sensational and I did not have to wait long for radiation. I was also diagnosed with a melanoma before Christmas and I was seen by another public hospital. They were fantastic.
I wish you well on your journey.
Sandra
xxxx
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I went to my surgeon who consults at a private hospital and I appreciated this as she was fantastic and highly recommended by gp and when she knew about issue I got to see her after hours asap and then biopsy which she says she prefers this one practitioner so I got fast tracked there and then the blue dye business again at private hospital but day before surgery which was also fast tracked. Surgical fees expensive but whole team fantastic so no problem there. Radiation at public Peter mac and they were fantastic and faultless And public system but really not average public health system experience : only issue was the wait and I got so frustrated I checked out privat facilities before realising it would add an hour and half to daily treatment : oncologist and surgeon both say public and private radiation the same. So I would go for convenience: once in they were very accomodating to time preferences etc. my yearly apps with oncologist and surgeon who are both private are around $120 for appt and you get some back on Medicare . Other than that I have mammagrama no ultrasound once a year and that is about $500! Best wishes
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Hi Tan,
I too had idc x 3 tumours. I went through the public system for everything bar my radiotherapy. I could not fault the care I have received through Eastern health. I only chose private for the radio as by the time I paid for tolls on the freeway, parking, petrol and time off work it was cheaper for me to pay the $400 out of pocket. The private clinic was much closer too. The staff were the most wonderful, dedicated and understanding bunch of people. I had 3 hospital admissions due to chemo side effects and they were brilliant every time. My experience in the public health system was second to none. Good luck. Karen xox
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Hi Tan,
Welcome to the Online Network. As you can see the members are here to support you and if you need anything please just let me know. Ask as many questions as you need to, that is what the Online Network is all about.
~Ann-Marie x
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