Golly Gosh, Millymonster I am so sorry that your diagnosis has stalled so much ... I would have expected you to have been diagnosed & had a date for surgery/treatment by now, so I fully understand you struggling with how things have gone so far. 😪 xx.
Do you have a Breast Care Nurse assigned to you who can go in to bat for you re appointments etc? They can often get the ball rolling faster!
Out of interest - are you in a city, or are you rural/regional/remote? Those of us living away from major cities often have greater 'waits' then our city cousins ... and it just adds to the stress & pressures that we are already under - and financially as well xx
Please ring BCNA Helpline on 1800 500 258 for a confidential chat - they may be able to give you some strategy tips xx
Take care - I hope you get all the info you need asap, to be able to move forward and start healing xx
Check out this link - it shows the 'optimal care' plan for women diagnosed with breast Cancer .... compare it to what you've experienced so far xx. Always have a family member (or a trusted friend) with you at your appointments, who may be able to support you & speak up loudly about your concerns with the delay in your treatment even starting! xx. An extra set of ears can be a real bonus.
https://www.cancer.org.au/cancercareguides/breast-cancer#initial
thanks for the information--regional location - havent been given any information except for appointment date from hospital as yet.
Sometimes, being Regional can be part of the reason but that shouldn't be an excuse at this time of year. You can join the Regional/rural/remote private group, if you'd like? We pass on tips/assistance to each other.
Group: Connecting rural, regional & remote areas | BCNA Online Network
Do you have a 'Biggish' hospital fairly handy (say within a 3hr drive?) One that would have a specialist Breast Cancer Surgeon? Many regional hospitals only have 'general surgeons' and personally, I am not a fan of them (tho I am SURE many of them would do excellent surgeries.)
My own diagnosis (invasive ILC) took from Oct to mid Jan before my first surgeon appt - but having Xmas/New Year in the middle didn't help. But once I saw the surgeon, he did the surgery 2 days later, after having a Sentinel Node check the day before. (The Sentinel Node check indicates which nodes your breast are reliant on - so they only remove them, not all of them.)
If you haven't been assigned a Breast Care Nurse yet, you should be able to find the 'closest one' on the map & give them a call yourself.
https://www.mcgrathfoundation.com.au/
They are available in all states - You can click on the ''face'' closest to you - and it gives the Nurse's name, photo, address & phone number .....
Sometimes we have to be quite proactive (read that as 'aggressive') to get things moving!
Take care & good luck
