My mum have just been diagnosed with type 2 breast cancer and has been scheduled to have the initial surgery on 3rd December. Obviously we’re all pretty shellshocked about it and her overriding thought is that she’d like to have the surgery done earlier privately, so she knows the lump has gone. Has anyone else gone for private treatment here? If so, how did you go about finding out when and where it could be done? Also, has anyone else managed to get surgery earlier via another NHS hospital? We want to make sure that she doesn’t opt out of NHS care just by having surgery done either - any advice would be really appreciated.
When i was diagnosed i would have had to wait for over a month for my mastectomy. When I told my surgeon I had private insurance through my husband’s job but only for another month or so as he was being made redundant, he said he could operate on me privately in just over a week and could have my treatment on the NHS. If you google Dr Foster and put in your mum’s consultant’s name, it should tell you whether he has a private practice too, most consultants do.
Cheers Kelley. The problem is that this consultant can only do the op a week earlier privately, as he’s on call for a period of time beforehand, so we’re looking for an alternative to him (although he’s meant to be very good). Its finding out about the alternatives that is stumping us a bit…where do we start?
I went on private - I was dx on 20th August. NHS put me down for operation on 11st Spe. My company provide me BUPA insurance so I checked to go on private i could have my op on 4th Sep. So i did not hesitate and transfer to private. Funny thing was the team is still the same team- my consultant was the same one for NHS and for private. I just need to contact his private seceratry, not the NHS one. My onc also the same person if i stayed with NHS. I am on kimo now by far and here are some pros and cons I found by far
Pros - get things done quicker
the hospital i stay was small ( private) so not much worries about too many people
I got a private room with ensuite bathroom and allowed to stay over night ( though normally it was a day paitant case)
When I started Chemo, it is so much better to go to this small oncologist unit - i donot need to worry about infections too much!
Chemo nurses are very nice- i got my own room ( NHS may also provide private room, i am not sure)
some drugs are free with BUPA ( anti sickness)
I need to boost my white blood cell so i got an injection but with NHS you might be given different drugs, which need many injections ( but the effect might be the same in the end)
the secerataes seems to be easier to get hold of
Cons
Need to check with BUPA with what they cover, what not beforehead
BUPA dont cover Wigs so i need to buy my own
the private hospital is very small so i need my breast care nurse from NHS, they donot seems to focus too much on me
also due to smal hosiptal, their facilities are scattered in different sites.Eg i need to take my blood test in one address, chemo the other
you could not switch back to NHS
Overall , private is just slightly quicker, not much huge advantages i have to say in my case.
Hope these help and all the best to you mum
BTW, what is type 2 breast cancer?? I have not heard of this term by far ?
So sorry to hear your mum’s news - what a dreadful shock for you all.
I had my breast cancer treatment privately. The nurse assigned to me when I went in for my op was male, the nursing care wasn’t expert on breast surgery and the on-call support during the night was inexperienced. I didn’t meet another soul with breast cancer during my treatment (I met men with brain cancer and prostate cancer), and that felt unreal. But that was also before these forums were so good.
Your email mentions “type 2”, which I think means non-invasive (which, if that’s the case, is great news) and a month’s wait would not be critical unless the grade is also believed to be high (less likely the older your mum is).
What I liked about private care was private consultations and quicker test results. My surgeon suggested I could do a mix and match if I had to go through it again, ie NHS surgery but private consultations - this is what I would do going through it again.
A plus of NHS treatment is the multi-disciplinary teams aspect - a group of the relevant professionals would discuss your mum’s care. The private risk is an over-confident maverick who does surgery that isn’t NHS approved (fewer checks and balances in private medicine - pros and cons being new techniques but perhaps the surgeon isn’t expert in them). Sorry to introduce these extra considerations into the equation. I know it’s awful making decisions of such consequence and you’re all trying to ensure your mum is around for ages to come.
The priorities I would have are the best care, the safest care and the best patient experience, and speed would come a little later. It’s possible to get great care in the private sector or the NHS but much depends on the specific surgeon, team and hospital, so Kelley’s recommendation on Dr Foster is really good.
Sorry to hear about your Mum it is going to be a very difficult time for you all, so it’s great to hear that you are ‘looking out for her’. One year after my treatment is finished I can not stress highly enough how fantastic the NHS can be! Don’t necessarily write them off! I don’t think that a months wait is too excessive, I waited for 6 months before surgery, although admittedly I was having chemo during this time and my cancer was stage 3, but my Mum waited quite a few months because she needed heart surgery first before having her mastectomy and the consultant (we had the same one at the same time!) stressed that as my Mum was older (I don’t know your Mum’s age) her tumour was likely to be slower growing than mine because she was past the menopause, whereas I was 40.
My care at every stage of the way has been amazing, but the NHS support goes beyond the initial surgery, My breast care nurse and team have been really supportive and I have made many friends along the way.
This just my opinion and everybody is different and you have to go with what’s best for your family, your Mum in particular, but I wish her lots of good luck with whatever she decides to do,
If you go private you are talking about substantial costs -thousands- - I am not trying to put you off in the least only to put a framework on it. Most of the people on this site who have private treatment have medical insurance through work. You can find a consltant by looking at your local private hospital website or discussing with your GP.
I am thinking you mean stage 2 breast cancer - which means realtively early, but I am not sure. It is a little long to wait - mentally - perhaps your mum can ring the surgeon and say that mentally she simply can’t wait - are there any cancelllations?
good luck with everything, meanwhile i think that your mum is luck to have such a caring daughter.
I had my op privately but still waited 3 weeks after dx.The private room was great and so is not waiting as long for results but otherwise theres nothing to choose.I’d use NHS in future because now my insurance has expired and I could not afford the thousands of pounds it would cost.Good Luck,Valx
I could have afforded to go privately for my two surgeries (lumpectomy and total lymph node removal) but decided to stay with the NHS as my hospital had a dedicated breast cancer ward and the nurses had special training. You will also get a specialist breast care nurse for follow up. Mine was absolutely brilliant and I could not have got through the 11 months of treatment without her. A friend of mine went privately in London and never spoke to anyone other than her surgeon - she didn’t have chemo, just radiotherapy. She now wishes she had used the NHS. The only pro I can think of is having a private room with your own bathroom.
I was diagnosed with the 3 step procedure, and was given a date 2 weeks hence for the first surgery. I had already booked a 2 week trip to see friends in Florida and the consultant radiologist said I could go as a month would make no difference whatsoever to my prognosis. I did cancel the holiday though, as I didn’t feel I could relax with the surgery hanging over me.
It really is a very personal decision whether to use the NHS or go private and I guess the only person who can make this decision is your Mum.
Very sad to hear your news of your mum. I am sure you are being a great help by helping out with the decision and coming on here etc…
I was diagnosed in July and our family has BUPA with my husbands work. I went through the agonising decision and can sympathise how stressful it is because you just want to get things moving,
When I went to get the results of the biopsy etc and told about the bc and advised that we could go privately. Through several reasons I didn’t want his colleague doing the surgery as I didn’t have a great deal of faith in him, so had gone onto BUPA’s find a consultant and asked him which consultant he would recommend. All seemed to going according to plan and my notes would be sent off. I didn’t even hesitate just thought go private, take the strain of the NHS. I wasn’t sensible like you. The first consultant I tried was not available for 5 weeks; the second was on holiday but due back in 2 weeks but I wouldn’t get seen for 17days and then having surgery could not be guaranteed for the following week. I spent 2-3 days trying to locate a ‘specialist’ to help out and ended up leaving messages all over the place. In the end, I went back to the NHS consultant in a right state and asked how long could I safely leave the surgery and he said he would not like to leave it longer than 2 weeks 3 at the most, so I said let’s forget the private route…when can you do it.
I was very honest with him, I was more than happy with him as a consultant and asked him point blank how long he had been doing breast surgery, as I had ‘checked’ him out and he was a ‘bowel’ specialist. I was lucky he had great reviews as a surgeon at the BUPA hospital., and he answered ‘been doing it for quite a few years’. So he fitted me in 2 weeks later so I was lucky.
All this tends to add to the complicated choice because you just want the best don’t you…
I would ask the consultant - HOW long can we really safely leave surgery? If unhappy you could get second opinion.
Private v NHS - my chum who had this cr*p disease went privately and all was very nice but she didn’t get the back up of Breast Care Nurses, additional support like alternative therapies etc., or options for trials. She’s been clear for 5-6 years now but her husband was thinking about changing jobs and the new private health care was with a different provider and if her bc came back she would not be covered as it is an existing condition, EVEN though she has no evidence of disease (NED) . It was that, that I decided to stick with NHS and they have been great.
Hope this helps but you need to ask some more q’s first
I think the most important thing is to have the very best surgeon and onc that you can find - and you really need a “breast specialist”. I had Sue Jones who works at Maidstone Hospital and has a private practice too. I went private simply because I wanted my own room and bathroom in hospital. However if Sue Jones had only had an NHS practice I would have gone NHS, I particularly wanted her because she’s on a list as the 3rd best breast surgeon in the country (nos. 1 and 2 are in London).
I had wonderful care, a lumpectomy, SNB with 2 nodes removed, and complete mobility of the arm as soon as I woke up in hospital. A short wait won’t really matter - it’s better than having it done by someone who normally takes out appendixes!!
Sorry to hear about your mum. It sounds as though you are being a great support to her.
I am being been treated privately - through work health insurance - and so far could not have had better care. The nurses in the chemo unit are lovely and the unit is small. The only drawback is that on some days I am the only patient there and its a bit lonely. There are two breast care nurses at the hospital who are wonderful - I can ring or email them any time.
I haven’t had surgery yet apart from lymph node removal but my surgeon who is a breast care specialist (as is my oncologist) is great, talked me through all the options and popped in after the lymph node surgery to see if I was OK.
I have been offered reflexology through the hospital, which I have to pay for as its not covered by insurance but its not much and acupuncture is also available.
I think what it comes down to is which private hospital you choose.