I had a lumpectomy and removal of some lymph nodes 6 weeks ago. Am due to start chemo soon. Has anyone out there had experience of private treatment (for which I am covered) where it seems I would be in my own room while the treatment was given? The alternative is an NHS ward where there would be much more going on. Would the distraction help?
Associated with this is the possibility of having TAC (privately) rather than FEC (NHS) and I am e-mailing the nurse helpline about this.
Hi Marion
I am having all my treatment privately as we were covered with my OH’s work policy. I am also a nurse so have much experience of the NHS. I decided to go private as I had started off in breast clinic private for speed. As far as the actual treatments go I don’t believe there is any difference between NHS or private. I have a friends whose sister going through NHS at the moment, she is on the same cycle as me and can’t sing their praises highly enough. However for me I happen to live practically next door to the private hospital so it made sense to be treated there rather than travel. I do get a private room and all the niceties that go along with it. I am always seen immediately and am generally in and out in 2 hours. The downside is that I don’t get to meet any other patients (although the hospital does have a support group if I wanted to go). I also like the fact that whenever I see my onc or breast surgeon I always get to see the consultant (but that might be true for NHS too!). Having said all that all the nice cosy things about being private are nice to have but in my opinion not really essential in the grand scheme of things. I think the NHS generally offers excellent care for breast cancer. I am being treated for primary at the moment so the care path and treatments are pretty bog standard wherever you are treated. If I were to get diagnosed with secondaries I think I would want to be treated in an NHS hospital where there is more exposure to clinical trials and a bigger multidisciplinary team. Can’t comment on your offered chemos as I am having x3FEC x3TAX but hopefully the helpline will help you out with that one. The only other thing I would add is that you might want to google your onc who has offered to treat you privately and you can check which NHS hospital (if any) he/she is affiliated to and if he/she is part of a recognised NHS oncology unit you can be pretty confident you will be getting the same treatment just in a private hosp environment.
Good luck with whatever you choose
In our local NHS hospital we have the choice of whether to be in a private room or not - I think it depends on the hospital and the dynamics of the environment.
It can work two ways - sometimes it’s nice being with other people and chatting and then other times not so much!
I have never had to wait too long - if there is a wait it’s usually because there’s been some problem with pharmacy and getting the drugs but our hospital is brilliant and I know so many of the nurses there now which makes a huge difference to me.
I always see my oncologist and not a registrar but that may be because I now have secondaries.
Agree with the post above re secondaries. I had the option of going private or NHS and my oncologist persuaded me to be in the NHS (even though she works privately as well). I get access to the clinic trial nurses and a whole range of other professionals (if I needed them) such as the Consultant for Palliative Service, psychologist, etc. etc. although I haven’t had to call upon their services yet!
I am having my chemo on the NHS and always see the oncologist before my treatment and always in a private room for treatment. The chemo nurses are fantastic and there is always a breast care nurse knocking about in case you need to ask anything. xxx
I’m having treatment privately, and I get my chemo at home at a time convenient to me. They come & take bloods etc, flush my Hickman line etc all at home. It’s absolutely fantastic and I get the same chemo nurse usually (unless she’s on hol) so we’ve developed a good relationship, I know how she takes her tea!!
Hi Marion
I had all my treatment privately at home, it was brilliant. I realized though when I was having my rads after chemo that it was good to meet up with other people going through the same. I have made some lovely friends, we all meet up regularly. When I was having my chemo at home I asked the nurses if anyone else was doing the same nearby and if so would they like to contact me. I was put in touch with a lovely girl that has now become a very good friend, we helped each other through the ups and downs of chemo.
I think you have to decide which would suit you best.
Kim x
I had to choose but it was easy because i was offered AC and Taxol private and AC and CMF on NHS.
I am quite a private person so liked having my chemo in my own room and in calm quiet surroundings and with the nurse you know. The down side was that i could only contact my chemo nurse during office hours Monday to Friday. Also, I had almost my entire treatment without meeting anyone else with breast cancer so there was far less support. I also had to organise and pay for my own wig.