I’m wondering if anyone else has their treatment from two different health boards as I feel that the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.
I live halfway between Cardiff and Swansea and the nearest cancer hospital is Velindre in Cardiff. When I had my initial cancer in 2016 I had my surgery and lymphoedema treatment in Swansea hospitals, as my health board was part of Swansea, and my chemo and radiotherapy in Cardiff as this is the cancer hospital.
This time around my health board has merged with another health board and things have gone down hill rapidly. I no longer receive the appropriate lymphoedema treatment so I have stopped going to appointments as it seems pointless going if they can’t perform the treatment I need: they don’t do it. My previous breast nurse told me to speak to the ‘head’ person and that was the person who was actually doing the treatment so there’s no hope there.
My breast nurse for oncology has told me I don’t need to go to any test appointments as my quarterly scans will show any issues. However, I keep getting calls from the local Snowdrop Centre (new cancer centre in my local health board) which my oncologist knew nothing about and we decided I shouldn’t go.
I’ve now had an appointment for a mammogram and when I rang to cancel it I was told my surgical consultant had requested it as they require me to have a mammogram for the next five years as part of my follow-up treatment plan for the secondaries.
I have to say I am getting to the stage where I feel like telling them all to take a long walk off a short pier. I just feel as if they don’t speak to each other: I’ve seen loads of different oncologists in the last 18 months and I have to repeat myself each time I have an appointment.
Fortunately I have been stable since I started treatment 18 months ago but I dread to thing what will happen once I start to get progression which I know will happen at some stage.
Has this been an issue for anyone else?