ibroxeagle,
Great hospital, great treatment but unfortunately they don’t consider the dignity of the patient when having rads. Two or three members of staff hanging around, sometimes one male and you have to strip off. I suppose really we should write to them, I know there are a lot of other women feel the same.
Tina
I am lucky, we get changed in cubicals, sit in a small area away from main waiting room and then pull gown down when on bed. I have never gone topless, but it does not realy bother me, even with the male nurses. I think it would bother me to get undressed and dressed in front of people though
Hi
We had changing rooms as well, with a door with a lock on it, thank God. We changed into the gown (only top half) and then went back to the waiting area to be called in. The gowns had velcro on the shoulders and were pulled apart where and when needed to expose the affected boob. I had a couple of young guys treat me as well, but I was not bothered by them, why should I be? They have a job to do. They were all very kind and always helped me up from the table afterwards and do up my gown at the shoulder as this is hard to do yourself. At the end of my treatment I bought them all cakes as a token of my appreciation. x
Hi
I didn’t have a gown as none in my size at the time. Anyway it didn’t bother me as you got changed in a curtained area of the treatment room itself with only the 2 radiographers present. Only a very short distance to treatment table.
Some ladies did have a gown which was a bit like a waistcoat with poppers on for you to uncover the relevant boob. They had to be ready changed into it & sat in the general waiting room. I prefered to wear easy to remove tops which I could just whipp off when I needed.
I never felt exposed or vulnerable personally but so used to whipping my bazookas out (well they did say they were trainee’s - on the day surgery ward at my second WLE!) to anyone who said they needed to exam them I lost all sense of inhibition.
I always felt they respected me; were only doing their job & didn’t view me as anything except as a patient who needed care; I couldn’t fault them for the efforts they made on my behalf. Mainly lady radiographers but a couple of blokes who were just as nice. One of them did put a bit of blue paper over me once then he walked past & draft blew it on the floor; he was more concerned than I was. Problem was I started to giggle & they had to re-position me. No more blue paper for me.
Take care for all of you having your rads & if not happy with gown how about asking to wear your own wrap-a-round top (if you have one) which could be used. As long as no metal fastnings it may be OK, but do check first.
i had my planning at the christie in manchester last week and was treated with the upmost respect-had my first appt at the christie unit at oldham today-receptionist fab-given all appts on a print out-told if any unsuitable can be changed with no prob-given a code for free parking space-everything explained by a really cute radiologist-called into a cubicle-given my own gown to keep during the 15 sessions-taken into the treatment room-helped onto table-only then was gown opened slightly to allow the treatment-all over and done with very quickly-at no time felt embarrassed or uncomfortable-hope this helps someone x
My experience was the same as yours Chrissy16 - did you go to Addenbrookes?
I was very happy with the way I was treated and have no issue with men doing it - after all, it’s just another doctor-patient relationship and most of us will already have had either a male surgeon or onc or both.
Jane xxx
don’t have a problem being treated by male members of staff. But having them present when you undress makes me feel more uncomfortable. When you are seeing consultants etc.(male or female) you undress behind a screen and put on your gown.
Tina
x
Oh yes Tina, I agree. I really don’t see that there’s ever a need to at least not offer a screen.
I think objecting to having a male radiographer at all as some have done though is asking too much.
It boils down to them (whether they’re male or female) having a certain amount of respect for your dignity - or at least what’s left of it as by now some of us don’t have very much left!!
Jane xxx
I found the whole rads process mentally very difficult, although physically it was easy. It was the dehumanising “meat on a slab” approach by the staff that got to me. They pushed and pulled me around to get me into position, rarely talked to me, chewed gum over me, some chatted in the background whilst I was being put in position. I felt there was no thought given to me the patient as a human being. Awful.
Sarah x
Alto,
No I did not go to Addenbrookes, I am in Nottingham and I had my rads at Nottingham City Hospital. x
oh-sorry sarah-that’s really rotten-i am at the christie at oldham and it’s fine-hope you are ok -stella
Hi ethlydsyl
Interesting that you are at the Christie in Oldham and finding it OK - I was at the Christie in Manchester and was not at all impressed. I’ve seen a number of ladies posting on here saying how good the Oldham satellite is, perhaps they should feed some advice back to the central set up on how to be nice to patients.
yeah-i’ve also heard the victoria breast unit at oldham is good too.
Just to even the balance, can I add that I have had radiotherapy at the Christie main site in Manchester several times - for primary bc in early 2009 and for mets since then, and have never felt uncomfortable, ignored or degraded - all the staff, whether male or female, have been lovely. My only dissatisfaction has been with waiting times.
Jx
hi everyone.New to this but wanted to share my experience. I had my planning for rads at Manchester Christie & was very upset during procedure. A Female member of staff made me very uncomfortable with her attitue. I was made to feel like I was on a conveyor belt!! Needless to say I didn’t want to have my treatment there in case I had to endure her again. I ended up having my treatment at the new Christie site in salford. What a difference!!! The staff were amazing and made me feel very comfortable. Sounds much like the Oldham site. It was nice to be treated as an individual. This whole situation is hard enough without having to put up with rude & uncaring staff.
The one that really got to me at the Christie was the radiographer who chewed gum over me the whole time she was getting me into position. Disgusting!
Hello ladies,
I am very lucky at NNUH (Norwich) the Colney Centre is tip top, once you are called through, you are required to change into a gown and then wait in a very pleasant area and then called in to the treatment room. The staff, some of whom are men are lovely and very professional, it’s quite surreal having a conversation with a bloke naked from the waist up, but hey they are young and we do need some perks to raise our spirits from tedium of visiting a hospital every day!!!
My top tip don’t take it all too serious, they see all sorts every day.
I have the champers in the fridge ready for the 31st of Jan to celebrate the end of the trips.
DD
Hi
In Coventry we sit in a waiting area and get called to whatever machine we are on. Undress in curtained cubicle and wander semi naked to table. I must admit I was a little taken aback when I first saw a male radiographer but after a while I didn’t notice it. I can fully understand that some ladies might feel uncomfortable. I really like the cape idea
X Sarah
Hello ladies, finished 15 sessions of rads at Royal Marsden London just over a week ago. They had curtained off area in treatment room where you undress and put on ordinary gown for walk to table, boob only exposed during the lining up process. There were lots of men being treated, and some for prostate cancer so I decided that the high ratio of female radiographers was actually a bonus for us ladies - the men would usually be exposing their nether regions to young women so a couple of male staff did not seem so bad.
Staff at R Marsden were excellent - very considerate and made me feel comfortable and like an individual.
Best wishes to you all
Hi Ladies
Had my treatment at The Rosemere Centre at RPH.
I used to wear a strappy top under my blouse and walk to the table with the straps off my shoulders; then I’d pull the top down to my waist once on the table - I found it more ‘dignified’ than the piece of paper I was given to cover up! but they do cover up your exposed side once you’re in position… (with paper…).
The staff were fab there too - and yes there are men there, but I really didn’t have a problem with that and didn’t feel uncomfortable at all; in fact I think they asked me if I minded being treated by male staff if I recall… but anyway as I said it wasn’t a problem to me. And they talked to you so you felt like a human being!
All in all I found the experience boring and would advise anybody to take a book or an ipod - I used to go alone so these were essential items to me and they got me through the long waiting times…