McGrath Foundation nurses

Hi there @"Patti J", so sorry to hear of your experience with the McGrath nurse, as you have mentioned there are only 6 metastatic breast care nurses and I would imagine that they are spread very thinly across the country, as I live in rural SA I have the services of a wonderful McGrath nurse, she is not trained specifically in Metastatic but has a amazing skill set across many areas, oncology and palliative care, so even though she doesnt have to she has taken both myself and a couple of other ladies under her wing, she too has a large area to look after but this does not stop her from ringing me without fail every week, attending the local breast cancer support meetings, and arranging to catch up with me when she can for a cuppa, I have her work number and her home mobile and I consider myself very lucky to not only call her my McGrath nurse but my friend, she has been there when I needed her most, and I know that both my partner and I have her unwavering support,however we are all not so lucky, and yes like you I am also independent, however there are times when we just need to speak to someone who understands, I have utilized both the BCNA counselling service and also the cancer council telephone support service, the BCNA has a specific counsellor who just specializes in Metastaic Breast Cancer, and I can say from expereince she is a very caring and compassionate lady - so - we all think we are strong and YES we are, but sometimes we just need a helping hand, so please dont let this expereince put you off.

wendy55