Hi

I am sorry to hear about the delay in getting the grade of your breast cancer. Some people find that their test results are not totally clear and, it may be that your consultant is waiting for your pathology results to clarify. I wouldn't worry about not seeing the oncologist yet. Your surgeon holds a weekly MDT (multi-disciplinary team) meeting with his team. Here he will discuss everything to do with your surgery and treatment, so it is more than possible that your oncologist is already involved with your case, even though you are unaware of it.

Remember that this is your body, so please do not accept that this is a unilateral decision, which is all up to your surgeon to decide what he wants to do. It is up to you to ask the requisite questions. You really need to know exactly what you are dealing with before you make any decisions, although you will naturally be led by your surgeon's recommendations.

I was sent a copy of my pathology result, when it came back, so you may get this without asking. If  not, you are perfectly at liberty to ask.

I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer in the past 9 years. On both occasions, it took a few months before I met the oncologist face-to-face. I cannot see any benefit to seeing an oncologist privately, unless you plan to have the rest of your treatment carried out privately. If you were to see someone privately, they may have a different opinion than your current team and, I'm sure that your NHS team would not be too happy being told what treatment to offer by a private oncologist.

This is not to say that there is any better treatment from your private oncologist as opposed to your NHS one. It is just that there are sometimes a choice of treatments, which can be equally effective.

When are you due to have your second wound check and how is it healing?

Please let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi,

Are you sure you are from North Wales? Only joking but my friends from around there have always been anything but unquestioning!

As Jolamine says, it is your body and your decision about what care (if any) you choose to have. I'm not a health professional (just another patient) but my understanding is that most cancer MDTs include an oncologist. This site gives an example of who is usually a member of a breast cancer MDT www.breastcancercare.org.uk/.../multidisciplinary-team-MDT

I have a different type of cancer but I didn't see my oncologist until after my surgeon had finished with me and the oncologist took the lead on my care.

If you have a named nurse/CNS, it would be worth phoning with your questions. Failing that ask them in your next appointment.

Good luck

Dave

Hi pasha

the first consultant I saw was the surgeon who expected me to decide what breast surgery I wanted, it was nigh impossible to decide on surgery when I didn’t know what my decision was to be based on. I went to my GP and asked him to obtain the pathology report so I could make an informed decision. 

Once I had my lumpectomies I was then again given conflicting information about my pathology. 

IMO The problem lies with the surgeons being the clinical lead, they head up the multidisciplinary team. I found my surgeon unapproachable, uncommunicative and unable to tell me of pathology results as they don’t like to get involved in that and prefer to pass that responsibility onto the breast nurse - who in my case gave me the wrong results!

It was months before I got to meet the oncologist and wished I had met her at the beginning, for the first time I was given correct information about my cancer, I had all my questions answered and I could at last put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I feel if I had met the oncologist first it would have saved me months of worry.

I really think the oncologist should be the clinical lead rather than the surgeon. It makes more sense to me to do it that way.