Talking to Doctors about feelings

hi Waving,

Just saw your comment re getting additional therapies and also wanted to 2nd the suggestion you go to the GP and ask for what is available.

One you are diagnosed with a chronic condition you are eligible for these Medicare covered 'ancilary' therapies. Your GP completes a form (initial assessment) and hands it to you with the referral and then you take that to the practitioner and they either bulk bill you or you just have a small gap. But when you call them they will tell you if there is an out of pocket exoense for them.

You have thenright for a lot of therapies so speak to GP. Physio, Exercise Physiologist, Dietitian, Podiatrist, Psychologist, etc... Has to be medically warranted so they must do a treatment plan for each and only for those professions listed on Medicare riles but still worth it. 

And who osnus cannot use some good dietitian advoce while going through Chemo, Podiatry even to help deal with foot care while skin and nails impossible to care for, Exercise physiologists help you work out a plan to stay as healthy as far as activities go while we still have these restricted ability to function etc.

There is not much one can get out of Medicare so why not now that you need help have a chat with the GP about acessing these services at no or subsidised cost and help yourself get through all this a bit more easily. Each profession has different rules about how many sessions are civered but still worth it.

Hugs

Jel.

Woo hoo that's great. You can get 5 free visits, my GP did it. Apparently once diagnosed with cancer you get 5 visits for certain treatments/therapies every year and Medicare covers the cost. 

Hi Cheryl

I am in Victoria.  I have a wonderful GP and will ask her next time I see her.  Not really her area of expertise but she is always happy to help.  Thanks for the link to pincandsteel - have checked there website and there is a physio not too far from me. Cheers

Do you have a good GP? He has been great, breast care nurse if you can find one will be able to help you. My physio is through the www.pincandsteel.com but am pretty sure Cancer council would have names of the ones that can do cancer patients. The guys here will also be able to help. I am in WA, if we in the same state I can send you names of a couple.

Hi Cheryl.  Thanks for your post.  Aftercare is also an issue for me as I do not know how to get referral to physio for exercises, lymphatic massage etc.  I have seen some comments from ladies who have seen physio and had their arm measured before op.  I would like to be able to be proactive as well but not sure how to go about it. 

Have basically given up on second opinion idea. 

Hi

I am so sorry you in this situation but it seems to be normal. I went private  and to a top breast surgeon and I got no after care. I had simple mastectomy and sentinel node done, was going back 2 times a week getting Seromas drained at $150 out of pocket expense and no advice. Had a BC nurse but she was one person for a large private hospital so had very minimal contact, she said she only got to see 50% of the people as she was so busy. I would look at seeing another surgeon before surgery, I wish I had followed my gut but it's all rush rush and my son kept saying he was the best and seemed nice. Started to think I was being silly, you need someone who listens, answers questions instead of putting you off. I dread my ongoing visits with him, thank god I have a great GP.

wishing you all the best

Cheryl

Cheryl

Hello

i had neoadjuvant chemo for 7 months and my tumour was large.

I just had my surgery and they did a sentinel node biopsy and I had the all clear. I'm happy with my medical team and the decisions they made.

My tumor shrank significantly in the first few weeks of chemo. By the time it came to surgery, my surgeon and oncologist were confident I would only need a sentinel node biopsy. The tumour shrinkage during chemo gave them a lot of information and helped guide the decision for surgery.

Every case is so individual and there are so many options now days.

Definetly get a second opinion if you're unsure.

wishing you all the best xo

Hi there, I am not sure where you are, but I live I regional North Qld. I went private, but the surgeons (public and private), oncologist , breast care nurses are all part of a multi-discipline team. They meet together and discuss cases. I was still entitled to see the breast care nurse even though I was private. You do often need to chase this up yourself. Maybe Google McGrath nurses in your area. Mine were more than happy t come to appointments with me if needed. 

Big hugs. 

Paula ??

I started off as a private parient and sstil had breast care nurse involved. Please.contact your local breast screen centre and ask about breast care nurse access.

I was privaye parient for my surgery had no clue about BCNs and she came to see me and introduce her self. Then was referred onto Oncologist as a privaye patient but she was involved there too and continued to work on my case.

There appears nothing to be in place saying you cannot have access to a BCNtif going private so please do go to your breast screen centre and talk to them.

Maybe your Oncologist is not activelly working with BCNs but that does not mean you cannot work with them.

I do hope it works out for you and please make sure you are comfortable with what is being done for you and to you

Hugs

Jel.

Hi Waving.

I was in a similar situation to you. I had 6 months of neo-adjuvant chemo and during this time lost confidence in my surgeon and what was being suggested. Only a matter of weeks before I finished chemo I decided to seek another opinion and then ultimately changed surgeons. The timing was a bit ordinary as I had been told that I needed to have my mastectomy within 3 weeks of last chemo but my decision was definitely the right one for me. A few people were surprised with my actions but in the end everyone understood that it is such an significant part of the process and it's important to feel 100% confident in the people looking after you. A friend told me that you wouldnt keep going back to a hairdresser that didn't cut your hair the way that you like so neither should you stick with medical people who may not be right for you. 

I hope you have the chance to just take some time for yourself, recover from chemo a little and then get a clearer picture of what you feel is important and where you are headed.

Goodluck.

Polly