I had a drug review telephone call from my doc today.
I was hoping I would be able to go and see him (not had a face-to-face since I was diagnosed last June) but no telephone only - then when he rang I had to tell ‘him’ why he was ringing me
I felt very down after the call he got some of my MRIs bone scans and CT scans all mixed up he said my bone scan was this July no it was April before I started Rads - the July scan was to see if the two nodes on my lungs had grown any. Told me I now need to take over from the medical teams, and look after myself (I already know that), and trying very hard to do just that - but some support would be good! I tried to tell him how the Letrozole has been affecting me - just felt the call was a complete and utter waste of time (all of the 5 mins of it)
Depressing all in all I am left feeling empty and almost valueless.
Really sorry this lack of attention by GP has left you feeling like this, it really is out of order, one would think that even during a phone consultation a GP would be able to concentrate for 5 mins. Is there another GP you could speak to at your practice? If, for whatever reason, you can’t speak with another GP, please call your clinic BCN (still there for you even after treatment), or the BCNs on this site or Macmillan nurses. When I had an infection three weeks after my surgery I deliberately chose to call my BCN rather than the GP surgery, no wonder why.
Sorry to go off on a tangent now…
I haven’t seen a GP at all this year. When I found my lump it was a practice nurse who saw me and I was given a 2 week referral. Recently I had a suspected UTI and called my surgery, had to wait for a GP to call back. When the GP called he asked me if I had any allergies to which I replied “No”, his reply was “Well that’s not what I see here, you have eleven allergies”. He then proceeded to rattle off a list of allergies and I thought “What the heck???”. I can view my records online and there’s no allergies listed.
To cut a long story short…I queried my “allergy” status with my own named GP who confirmed in a call that I didn’t have any at all, she then went on to tell me that while talking to me she was viewing three computer screens and that’s probably what happened with the other GP. So in fact, the first GP confused me with another patient and gave me misleading medical info because he has to view three screens while doing phone consultations? It’s really not on. Hospital and clinic staff have been seeing patients so don’t understand why GP’s are different. I agree with you that GPs are out of touch, they’re not seeing their patients face to face and it’s all become very distant and without connection. Rant over.
I know just how you feel. It’s difficult to see the same GP at my practice anyway but, once they’d referred me on, no one wanted to know. I was in hospital hands. But there’s more to cancer than the physical side and hospitals tend not to deal with the emotional and psychological impact - they have one job to do! Before my chemo started, I was a wreck because I have multiple lifelong phobias. One GP told me all women will feel like I do. No, they don’t have phobias that need to be managed! Another told me she had no knowledge of chemo side effects (then get some, or refer me to someone who does? Don’t just dismiss me out of hand). They did make a referral to a nutritionist but they discharged me after one consultation!
So I do know how you feel. I don’t think there’s much you can do except contact the practice manager to ask why this is happening and what can they do to change it? In other words, a complaint. A GP should at least have the decency to skim your notes before contacting you. I’m hovering about contacting them because it took them a year to take my concern seriously. One doctor even looked at my eyelid from a safe 2 metres and told me I had dermatitis. I disagreed but she still didn’t examine it. In fact, I had metastatic breast cancer in my eyelid and it took a whole year to get the referrals (achieved by going directly to my breast care nurse). My oncologist said the delay didn’t really make much difference but I can’t help but feel bitter that the GP had a chance to spot it, knew or should have known I was high risk but still didn’t examine me and now I’m back on chemo!!
Much of this is because local practices have been reorganised on a business model and many GPs find it tax-efficient to work part-time. I’m afraid the good old days of a long chat with a friendly GP have gone. That doesn’t mean they don’t care, I’m sure. It means they don’t have time to care! They have 5 or 10 minute slots, one medical issue only, and that’s your lot. And here was me expecting my GP to ring to see how I was now I have a secondary diagnosis. Chance would be a fine thing. I’m on a rant, aren’t I?? Best bet is to email a mild/strong complaint to the practice manager expressing your concerns. Cancer is a lonely business at times.
I wish you all the best and hope you fin the support you need once services begin opening up and charities find the resources to get back to how things were.