Here Goes
Hello. My name is Jenny and I live on the NSW/Vic Border. I have gone to post in here a couple of times but backed out. Denial maybe? On Wednesday I was officially given the diagnosis of BC. I hav...
Forum Discussion
Don't let the door person get in your way. You have an absolute right to those records, tell her you want them. From now on ask for copies of everything--make it a matter of course
Costs for you might be an issue in Albury Wodonga. The cancer centre is very pretty, but it is not a public facility. You can get your radiotherapy bulk billed there now--which is a significant saving--oncology services, should you require them, are something else altogether. There are options for that if you get into trouble financially but they require a bit of running around.
If you require more extensive surgery, consider going to Melbourne for it. It would be worth asking your surgeon if they are a qualified breast surgeon or a general surgeon with an 'interest' in breast surgery. There is a difference and it is an important question if you end up wanting reconstructive surgery. Hopefully you won't, but from my personal experience of BC in Northeast Victoria and Southern NSW, you need to ask a lot of questions as you do not always get the full picture or get offered the same services that you can access in the metro areas. Sentinel node tracking is an example of this--there are very much more sophisticated ways of doing that than running a hand held Geiger-counter over your armpit.
Sorry, not trying to frighten you, but start with the questions very early and consider any snootiness about delivering answers as a huge red flag.