Ideas for podcast for those just diagnosed

Financial, financial is a must , not everyone has a whole stash put away and flipping between public and private can add up.

Ask onc, surgeon, physio and pchyco , radio costs, whether they do both public and private .

Additional cost which are lifetime ongoing like prescription for Tamoxifen and Xgeva , can add up.

Accessing Super Funds is a nightmare , there should be an easier way if you are diagnosed to access the funds, if you are diagnosed with a non curative cancer it should be up to you when you have access to your funds .

Liking your Oncologist is a must, my one is a Professor and he is fantastic , he has a heart which you quickly find out most Dr's don't have as you will be under their wing for the long term.

As much as people say you can still work while treatment it is another stress that if you can avoid it , in my opinion is better, concentrate on yourself and immediate family  again money is involved.

While psychology is key early on,  every experience is different.  The range of what you might feel,  not" you will", and where to ask for help.  I was terrified of mounting costs (after being stung big time in by using private health 9 months ago for a broken bone), and found surgeon super helpful. Happy to put me on public list instead of private,  got every bit of info on out of pocket possible.  But,  it was imaging pathology,  that were still unexpectedly $$$
Ended up private,  and other than surgery, pathology  (now in chemo,) my health fund is paying up, and very happy with care,  direct access to own oncologist being maybe a defining factor. You can switch between systems,  decision you make at the start doesn't mean you can't move systems,  or hospitals,  whatever. 
Things move so fast in early days,  take time to consider,  regroup, 2nd opinion if you need it - reassure that breast surgery is not an emergency.
Making decisions about recon etc in that headspace - how to put your own feelings about it to the fore.  I opted to deal with that at the other end of the journey (if at all), and very comfortable with that,  and the lesser risk of complications etc. 

I have been extremely lucky going through the public system. Have no complaints. Everyone has been amazingly awesome 

Found all the questions i asked in those early days...thought i  had thrown them out. I have loosely grouped them.

@Jax1964 That is awful for you. I hope you had someone with you to give you hugs. 😢

kmakm said:

@Jax1964 I've been treated in the private system and have had a mixture of superb, good, inadequate and woeful care across three different hospitals. It seems to be luck of the draw wherever you are.

And it's certainly not exclusive to cancer. 
If you're making a podcast aimed specifically at newly diagnosed, they don't need to be distracted by flowery posters and sugar-coated smiling faces. It sets up false expectations which can only lead to disappointment - and someone who is a stunned mullet from the shock of diagnosis does not need more frustration piled on top.

There are already a dozen treacle-laced cancer podcasts without an ounce of reality, make something different.

@Jax1964 I've been treated in the private system and have had a mixture of superb, good, inadequate and woeful care across three different hospitals. It seems to be luck of the draw wherever you are.

That's an awful litany of indifference (at best) @Jax1964 and I am really sorry if you have been through that. Mercifully I have an oncologist who seems to like questions, and apart from a couple of nurses with inappropriate manners, I have had a good experience. Many of us have had little or no experience of hospitals prior to bc, so some info on institutional procedure, who's who in the zoo, would help. Assertiveness is probably the best defence in the first few weeks, just about the hardest time to maintain it or learn it! 

The reality is not like the glossy brochures.
You will most likely not see the same doctor twice.
You will see a string of registrars and sometimes they will contradict one another.
Every doctor will interpret your blood results differently.
None of the young doctors will have developed any "bedside" manner so expect to be treated like a piece of meat.
If you do manage to see the same doctor twice, they will not remember your name - they will look at your file and refer to you as your disease. "Ahh, you're the mastectomy case with the clear nodes."
You will be ridiculed if you dare to look up something on the internet and ask your doctor to explain.
You will wait for hours and hours for every appointment. You will be lucky to get 10 mins face to face with someone who will be more interested in reading your file than looking you in the eye.
You will be booked in for procedures that you have no clue about. You will dutifully turn up, line up, shut up and check your dignity at the door.

Mention that if you gp writes kindly bulk bill all scans are no out of pocket. ( well they were for me)  I was so grateful at the time he did it for the first one and then would do for all of the others. ( I have health insurance but remember feeling in such a daze we didn't even Use it and I don't regret that for one moment I have had the best of The best for surgery and even now with my thyoid I see the head of endocrine at royal Melb and don't pay a cent (except for parking)  the only one I wasn't going to get for free was the dexa scan that wasn't going to be covered for bc but was for graves. Woot. Go me how lucky 🍀.