Your GP is important through your breast cancer treatment in several ways.
First, the GP is the person you had to see for the referral to a breast surgeon, etc, unless you came through via Breast Screen, who may have done your referral for you. My GP wanted to know if I had private cover, because she would be happier with the service I would get through the medical providers in the private system than in the public system. Her first suggestion was Peter Willsher at the Mount Hospital in Perth, told me she was referring me to him because he is very competent, very experienced and also very gentle and easy to talk to. She said gentle is a vital quality in your surgeon when you have breast cancer. She rang on Wednesday while I waited and she made an appointment for me to see him on the next Monday. He was kind enough to give me his direct number so I could ring over any serious post op concerns. He referred me to Arlene Chan, oncologist, who is his wife.
Second my oncologist said that your GP is the person you see for any symptoms or sickness that comes on slowly during chemo. If I had sickness or symptoms during chemo that came on fast, I was to ring the oncology nurses or the ward, and ask them to check directly with her what to do. Or to go straight in to the oncology ward. I told my GP this, and that I may need to see her urgently if I got sick like this, and could not wait a week for an appointment. She put a note for the receptionists on my file saying must book same day appointments if requested: chemo patient. They were brilliant.
Third, after chemo, and targetted treatment and radiotherapy is finished, apart from the regular 3-6monthly checks with surgeon and oncologist, your GP is the person who co-manages any post-treatment symptoms and concerns. He/she may be first port of call if you are worried that you may have a new primary cancer or a recurrence, and it is important they remember you had breast cancer and send you for scans or blood tests where this is appropriate.
My GP makes a point of hunting out the best people for her referrals list. She told me she only refers to the people she would send her own family to or go to herself. And she gets feedback from patients that help her decide who might suit which patients best. She does not know all there is to know about breast cancer, and has not heard about some of the things that seem very basic to me as someone currently going through breast cancer treatment. But she has brilliant referrals, and knows the important stuff, is kind, very caring, and has been good to deal with.
To find out who are the really good GPs in your area, try asking the receptionists at your breast surgeons. Or the breast care nurse at the hospital (ring the breast cancer ward and ask to speak to a breast care nurse). I find that Medical Centre receptionists generally recommend and book patients in to the doctors with fewest patients. These are either not very good or brand new out of training, or maybe still in training. But if you go and talk to the Medical Centre Manager, and explain that it is important to find a very experienced female doctor who knows a lot about breast cancer treatment, she may be prepared to suggest the best one/s for you.
Also, I have come across a number of lovely women GPs who were a bit offhand with their patients because they were just so busy because of the shortage of women doctors, and who were away for a year or two every two or three years to have their next babies.My current GP has already had her children, but has to juggle her hours so to look after both her kids and her patients. Personally, I would rather have a GP who was intelligent and competent and very kind, who was keen to learn and very supportive even if it was a man, than a woman I did not feel was there for me.
best wishes
