Hoping the surgeon is right

Hi @Makday sorry to hear about your diagnosis.  I had my radiation oncology at the Canberra Cancer Centre. I did my chemo at Calvary Hospital. I had Carolyn Cho as my surgeon who was absolutely fantastic, Alison Davis as my first chemo Onc but I then changed to Dr Malik who is equally fantastic after Alison went on extended leave,  and finally Trish Pulverenti as my radiation Oncologist. All work out of Canberra Cancer Centre and all were great. The Canberra Cancer Centre nurses and staff are also great.

I was told by Caroline my surgeon that although my treatment would probably be chemo and definitely radiation (I opted for lumpectomy) that the final decision re chemo would be made after the full pathology results came in. She was right.

Re Breast Cancer Nurse, your experience with them is exactly the same as mine. Too many patients not enough BC Nurses. They will get back to you if you ring and leave a message, otherwise you can go to the drop in clinics at Calvary or Canberra where you may have to wait a bit.

Wishing you the best for your upcoming treatment.

@marcel You can chat privately using the message system here - click on the envelope on the right hand side of the blue banner at the top (can't remember what it looks like on a phone screen).  When the screen comes up, type the name of the person you want to message.  

And, welcome!

P.S. If you can get Dr Angella Rezo at Canberra Public or Icon Cancer centre in UC in canberra...you have scored the best Rad oncol.

Hi Makday,  I live in bawley point ( near you) and similar situation. I'm Stage2 invasive cancer with LVI . I've had part mast in late dec and finished 4 weeks intense Rad's in Canberra in march. I'm new to this network, so not sure, but if you want to chat, send me a private message.

Hi @CathyMac, lovely to hear from you, my appointment went well yesterday, and yes, the staff are really great. My surgeon was Collins, he carried out the surgery in bega but works out of Canberra private also. I have been offered to participate in a trial, much reading to do and pending results of blood tests and appointment with medical oncologist.  I won't need to have chemo, but will have 20 rounds of rads, feeling lucky with this treatment as I know many others, including yourself, have to go thru so much more.  I am fairly familiar with Canberra hospital as I spent the better part of last year caring for my daughter who was in and out of care , just all new with being involved in the cancer centre. Talk soon, and I hope your treatment is all going well.
Beth

@Makday I'm sorry you've had to join us here, but it's a fantastic place to be for advice and support.
I was diagnosed with high grade DCIS and invasive ductal carcinoma in November 2018.i had a right side Mastectomy at the John James hospital in Canberra and am having my treatment at the Canberra region cancer Centre at the Canberra Hospital. They have been fantastic! My treatment schedule is 16 doses of chemo. 4AC followed by 12 paciltaxel. Today I had my 3rd paciltaxel and all is going well. After my chemo treatments are finished I will have 5 weeks of radiation. Who was your surgeon? Let me know if you would like any further info re the Canberra Hospital. I'm more than happy to impart any knowledge that may help.
Take care xx

Hi @makday. Congratulations on having the surgery behind you. I had one appointment with the BCN before surgery then had a different one come check on me in recovery. Both were lovely and gave me their contact details. As I went overseas within 2 weeks of surgery I did contact them via email a couple of times and got very quick replies. I keep fingers crossed that you are able to avoid chemo. Take care of yourself. 

@Makday fingers crossed for you, but I think it is wise to acknowledge that recommendations for treatment may change. I've had two experiences where the surgeons opinion was very different from the oncologists. 
If that does happen, there are tests available to help determine how useful chemo might be. Sometimes the percentages for  a better ten year outcome can be tiny, as Millie pointed out, so those can be tough decisions to make. Hopefully you won't find yourself in that situation.
What a pity you aren't getting much value out of your breast care nurse. The quality of that service seems to vary widely, perhaps that's down to workloads or the personality of the staff. The two BCN here have been around for over a decade and they are absolutely fantastic, which has been a huge help over the years.

@makday I started with a wide excision as it was thought that the lobular cancer was small and had not spread.  That would have meant rads then AI.  The path report came back as much larger and 3 nodes involved.  This meant that I needed a mastectomy and axillary dissection, and chemo was added to the treatment regimen.  I didn't actually find out that I was Stage 2 until after active treatment.  It's not really unusual for treatment plans to change after surgery, once the path report is back.  Take care.

Best wishes for the Oncology appointment. My surgeon had said I'm sure you won't need chemo but that's the Oncologist call.  He was right! Hopefully your pathology reports gives the same result.
As to the Breast care nurse some have a large number of patients. Mine was through my surgeon and extremely helpful. 
Take care