How awful it is to hear all the negative stories. This horror-show is the real frontline arena for the BC patients which nobody else seems to get. The attitudes! My surgeon was great, single mastectomy, no reconstruction. He is private, sooo expensive, I've gone public for everything else, hands-on staff have been great, as far as the radiation and medical oncologists are concerned I've only ever seen the "real" one once each, the rest are all registrars, I don't think it matters whether I go to appointments or don't, just see your GP they say, but that's a lucky dip. They will only be interested again if you get a recurrence or mets and as there is NO SYSTEM OF SURVEILLANCE nobody knows until it's basically too late and the tumours are big. How big? Nobody can tell you. What about blood tests? Not reliable enough they say - really too expensive on Medicare. Forget about scans etc. You're on your own until you can bring them another nice tumour. And they call this excellence in care? The whole system needs to be overhauled. Stay in warrior mode and stand on your dignity, friends. So glad that some of you have had much better experiences, it proves it can be done.
