Breast cancer patients in general must be their own best advocates when it comes to arranging for doctors visits and tests as well as operations that are required for breast cancer. This is especially true in Canada were everything is done in serial fashion. It is important to illustrate what we mean by this.
First you make an appointment to have your annual mammogram. Generally a week later you make an appointment with your doctor and he or she tells you the results. Sometimes the clinic will call you back for a second mamogram so there is another weeks delay. Once you do see your family doctor, and receive the results, he will schedule an appointment with the surgeon if they suspect breast cancer! Usually you will wait another week or two for this appointment.
The surgeon will schedule a number of tests including a biopsi which needs to be scheduled and sometimes can be as long as two or three weeks later. Another week for the results to be completed and another week to meet with the surgeon and then you will find out exactly what kind of breast cancer you have and what treatment you are going to need!
A minimum of six weeks of agony while you wonder what is going to happen to you! Now the operation for breast cancer must be sceduled. This goes on and on!
Amazingly one year later you have finally recovered from the operation, the chemo treatments and the radiation if you needed this sort of treatment. hard to believe but this is typical in Canada!
We said you need to be your own best advocate or have someone who is your best advocate. We once were told that we had to wait two months for tests. when we requested the nurse to call a clinic, we got the appointment for the test the very next day! Imagine if we had not asked!
The best advice is that if you are not happy with the schedule persist in asking for something better in a friendly but firm tone. The worst that is going to happen is that you must wait for the original appointment.
An article in the Ottawa Sun on Dec 21, entitled "Caring takes its toll" illustrates how being your own best advocate is so important. Feel free to read this article which was originally written by Dr Aly and Falza Abdulla for the Ottawa Sun.
Contact us to set up reciprocal links to your web site.
Web Site Links