Waiting to find a surgeon
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Jnet
Member Posts: 3 ✭
I am newly diagnosed (14/9) and very anxious. I spent all day yesterday trying to book into a surgeon (the two referrals my dr gave me, one had a recorded msg saying reception back on Monday so dont even know if the dr is in town) and the other referral turned out to be for a dr who retired a year ago! I rang around to all the other breast surgeons I could find in my area to no avail. I was hoping to at least have a consultation date but now i have to wait till at least Monday. I am on the Sunshine Coast and even rang one in Brisbane but all the surgeons are away because of school hols. Dr sent referral to public system also and said "someone will pick it up"?
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Hi @Jnet
The waiting is stressful. However, I was comforted by my GP that reasonable waiting time is OK. I was so stressed when the first available biopsy (public) was in 3 weeks. My GP tells me the cancer isn’t going to grow overnight. Try to do things to distract yourself from thinking about it. I went for long walks, socialised etc. and took things as they come. One day at a time.☺️
Our public system is very much slower compared to private. I chose public initially and then switched to private (as I found a surgeon I wanted to go with). Our public system is great as well but it generally has a very much slower turnaround time.
Start calling on Monday morning but enjoy the weekend not thinking about it.
p.s. my GP rang the public hospital and she managed to get a consult for me the next day. If you have a good rapport with your GP, asked if she/he can do that.
xx ❤️ xxGin2 -
It is tough when you can't talk to reception asap re booking in .... I sent an email to the Surgeon's office that I'd been suggested (as all surgeons were still on Xmas Leave when my diagnosis came thru) and his Breast Care nurse messaged soon after, then rang me, to organise an appt for the first day he returned to work (10 days later in mid Jan) .... the day after my initial consult, I had the sentinel node test & the next day, my surgery - so once it 'started' it was fairly quick. Mind you, my lump was found in Oct .... so it took a long time to get to that stage! grrr
In the meantime, check out this thread, to look at other areas in the forum & ideas on what to take to hospital etc
https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/discussion/23477/a-big-welcome-to-all-our-new-members#latest
Sending you a message xx
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Hmm, I’m grateful my GP (new doctor in practice I’d been attending for years) took the trouble to ring around until she found someone who could see me in two days! Turned out to be an excellent choice too. However @GinGin is right, the delay is worse for your head than it is for your body. Best wishes for an early appointment and way forward.1
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Still worrying ! Had surgeon appt and now waiting for oncologist appt. Had clip in. Still waiting on test results. My stomach is churning All this anxiety no good for cancer! Doing my regular tai chi and lots of walking/cycling I feel great apart from the anxiety. Hard to believe I have breast cancer. Before all this happened I had a full blood count and dr said it’s all good. Shows breast cancer doesn’t leave a trace.1
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Try not to worry (hard tho it is) This bloody disease actually mucks with your brain even more than your body - and it can be ongoing!
If you feel really anxious, give our helpline a call ... 1800 214 740 for a reassuring chat xx Or ask your GP/Cancer team to refer you to a counsellor xx
It is Good that you've seen your surgeon - I hope you are happy with them. When is your surgery?
All the best with your Onc - you usually only see them after your surgery & pathology results. ....
....Hard to believe I have breast cancer. .... Yep - it sucks, doesn't it .... I was SO fit & well before my diagnosis .... grrr
....Shows breast cancer doesn’t leave a trace. ... There ARE some 'breast cancer markers' that can be added to your blood tests .... but many Drs believe they are not accurate & only scare people, so don't check for them.
take care1
