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Vix1963's avatar
Vix1963
Member
4 years ago

Time span from diagnosis to treatment

Hi- need advice or reassurance please 
-Overdue BreastScreen Dec 22.
-Received call from BreastScreen Jan to come in for further tests/ lump found.
went to hospital and had two scans, 3D mammogram, ultrasound and 3 biopsies under ultrasound/local anaesthetic. 
-Called back 1 week later- confirmed invasive lobular Cancer Of L breast- HER-2
Referred to Family GP That day,
Family GP referred all test results to 2 hospitals- one close to my new home at beach and one close to my family jn Melbourne and where all medical records are (I still have to have a hole in heart To be repaired and post cervical cancer checks)
I deferred appointment with specialists at beach hospital til feb 22 as I received an earlier appointment to meet specialist at Melbourne hospital (Austin/Olivia Newton John wellness centre) and thought to check it out first (I’m told two opinions is good idea)
Halfway down the freeway to Austin hospital I get a call to say specialist has gone home sick- my appointment is. Cancelled and I’m back on wait list for an appointment again. No idea when my next appointment will be
i haven’t seen a specialist yet
have no treatment plan
and it’s nearly two months since my original mammogram
Am I right to be panicking and frazzled that the Austin hospital has STILL not gotten back to me for an appointment and treatment plan?
Should I just forget the Austin and go to frankston on 22nd?
Makes me Feel like maybe what I’m diagnosed with isnt a big deal to the hospital. Alternating between panicking and total absolute apathy   
panic-attacks
  • Julez1958's avatar
    Julez1958
    Member
    4 years ago
    Hi there
    my cancer was also lobular was not picked up on mammogram , I discovered a lump , turned out to be 5.5 cm and in the end I had a double mastectomy , radiotherapy and reconstruction.
    I found the lump end of August (2020) saw my GP next morning (on a Monday) and had mammogram and ultrasound that afternoon , and biopsy 2 days later.
    My GP booked me in the see a breast cancer surgeon she recommended ( I took her recommendation and was very happy) a week after she got the biopsy results and he confirmed it was cancer.
    I then had MRI of both breasts and a number of staging scans to see if it had spread ( it hadn’t).
    I actually lost  a week as I got a cold and with Covid everyone was very nervous.
    I had my surgery 7 weeks after I received my diagnosis.
    It felt like I had a radioactive ticking time bomb in my breast and even though my surgeon assured me my cancer was low grade and extremely slow growing I was freaking out , so I can understand your anxiety.
    I couldn’t relax until I had a surgery date .
    I had all my treatment as a private patient but I understand there are protocols for time to  treatment from diagnosis  no  matter whether you are public or private.
    Maybe see if you can do a Telehealth with your GP tomorrow ( Monday) to discuss?