Hi Ladies, i have my first visit to oncologist next monday, i was told everything test results, diagnosis, prognosis ect… from my breast consultant/ surgeon, what i was wondering will the oncologist tell me anything new, like… e.g horrible surprises that i wasn’t told by my consultant, i will be having chemo soon so i take it, it will be to talk about that, im worried that the oncologist is going to add worrys to my diagnosis if you see what i mean, i hope you can see what i mean as its hard to write it down on paper so to speak.
Hi eeyore58,
Thank you for your post.
I am sorry you haven’t had any response yet. I am hoping my response will help our members to see your post and share their experience and advice.
In the meantime, please remember that for any clinical questions our breast care nurses are here and happy to talk things through.
Best wishes,
Zoe
Hi @eeyore58 - your message made perfect sense. I seem to remember that at the first appointment with my oncologist we went through all the details of chemo, I don’t remember him telling me anything new - though that time is all a bit of a blur as I was in such a state of shock, as I’m sure you know all too well.
I also had an appointment with a chemo nurse to go through questions and where she warned me of all the side effects. Try to remember that they have a legal duty to warn you of all side effects so that you are fully informed before you give your consent - in these days they have to cover their backs. But that doesn’t mean that you will get all side effects. There are also lots of meds to help with the side effects, so always tell your team if you are suffering.
Take along a notebook on Monday with you with all questions and where you can write the answers too. One other thing I was told was to keep a diary of symptoms. This was helpful for appointments with doctors/nurses, but also allowed me to look back and read that whatever symptom I had did disappear. Does that make any sense?! Each drug is slightly different, but you usually have say 3 sessions of one drug, about 3 weeks apart. So if you feel horrible on say day 4 after chemo but better by day 6, then in the next cycle you can look back at your diary and know that even though you are again feeling rubbish on day 4 then you will feel better again by day 6.
Evie xx
I doubt very much there will be any horrible surprises: The oncologist is basically in charge of your treatment plan apart from the surgery, so deals with arranging chemo, hormonal therapy and radiotherapy - and the order in which you have them.
I had surgery first, and only saw the surgeon until I had recovered from the op; after that, all my main appointments were with the oncologist, or one of her registrars, until I finished treatment.
One thing I would mention is that before each dose of chemo you have to go to the oncology clinic so that they can check your neutrophils after the previous dose and sign you off as healthy enough to have the next dose. This is basically an administrative appointment, so you may get to see a registrar and not the consultant. I only mention it because i was unfamiliar with hospital procedure, so was very taken aback not to be seeing the consultant herself, but this is normal. The consultant will see you for all important important appointments relating to the stages of your treatment plan.