Hi @KylieG,
Welcome lovely. The ladies are right as usual. This is the worst part until things get kind of organised.
People have good and bad experiences in both systems. Although I will say I've heard more bad than good about the private sector mostly the out of pockets and follow up. I had a close acquaintence who was out of pocket well over $10k after the chemo and radiation expenses that weren't covered.
I went public and had the same surgeon I could have walked around the block to his private rooms and paid big $$$ for. A lot of surgeons do both public and private. I was also accepted into a private hospital as a public patient for both chemo and radiation. It's not a well known fact that that can be done depending on the circumstance. Thank goodness for good breast care nurses that know these things.
The best references are always from somebody who has been to a particular hospital and had a good relationship there. Maybe another opinion might not be a bad idea as well regarding what absolutely has to be removed and why. Keep asking questions until you are satisified with the answers. One thing you learn very quickly through this thing is to be your own advocate and don't stop questioning things until you have all the information you need.
Big hugs
xoxoxoxox
