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Zoffiel's avatar
Zoffiel
Member
7 years ago

Makes me see red

I read, today, an intersting article on the ABC website about some of the issues faced by rural and regional people who have breast cancer or are at high risk of developing it. I'm not as remote as the woman who was featured, but even here there are struggles.

One of the biggest issues is affordable specialist care. There are few, if any, public services and you do not always get informed about them.  You get referred to the company that covers your region even if there are more affordable services within reach. I've spent ten years fighting this fight, and I know what the facts are.

ABC interviewed an oncologist who agreed that, yes, there are unique challenges that lead to poor outcomes for county folk. Distance is one thing, cost is another. If you are on a pension or low income and have to fork out specialist fees that are well above the metropolitan rates  it makes a shitty situation even worse.

It is a pity ABC did not ask that individual what they, and their business, was doing to address equity of access for rural and regional people. I really do wish they had asked that. I wonder what the answer would be? Last time I asked a member of that business that exact question, in a public forum, the response was 'Be careful what you wish for, you wouldn't want to be waiting in clinics like the big public hospitals.' Really. Most of us have either money or time. You should not have to go into debt to fund services that are bulk billed elsewhere. This shit infuriates me.

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  • Romla's avatar
    Romla
    Member
    7 years ago
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    Agreed @Zoffiel. Would have liked to retire in a more rural location but a recent experience with country medicine changed it. My husband broke his humerus due to a bike accident over Christmas down at our most popular beachside town Victor Harbor. They had no doctor in the hospital when thousands were holidaying down there over Christmas and only 1 nurse in casualty over the holidays. All 8 beds in casualty became full , my husband lay next to a bloke being resuscitated after cardiac arrest and the single nurse was so busy I cleaned the cuts and abrasions off my husband. Whilst Victor is the grey capital of SA normally we felt it was  god’s waiting room for other reasons.
  • Annie_C's avatar
    Annie_C
    Member
    7 years ago
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    This is the first time I have posted a comment. I have been "lurking" and reading since I was diagnosed in June 2017. So here goes! 

    I am very remote, living some 2,300 kms from my treatment centre. Accessing treatment as an older remote woman is hard.  I drive 220 kms (a 3 hour trip, allowing for flooded creeks, poor roads and delays due to cattle on the road) before I even get to the airport. A travel day to Perth usually begins at 8:00 am and ends in Perth at 5;00 pm. A clinic visit requires a week away from home with all the expense whilst "living" on an aged pension.
    I would like to see implemented a system similar to the Lion's Bush Vision truck. I am very lucky that once a year a Lion's Bush Vision truck visits my town equipped with all the necessary gear to undertake appropriate vision exams. This truck has saved my sight. 
    It would be wonderful if a similar program could be put in place to provide our annual mammograms to those of us who now no longer qualify for the Breastscreen program. It would save 1 trip a year with all the associated costs with being away from home, not only financial but the social and emotional costs. 
    Surely such a system cannot be too hard to implement. I certainly am not the only remote woman with breast cancer and I will admit that I have entertained the idea of not attending clinic visits for after care because of the cost and distance involved.