An A to Z of all things Breast Cancer
Doctors
Noun: Doctor; plural noun: Doctors
A person who is qualified to treat people who are ill.
Got to be a bit careful with this one, as the doctors who will be treating you have literally got your life in their hands, and they are people I hold in very high regard and have much respect for.
Depending on your diagnosis and treatment plan, you may see several different types of doctor. My personal journey started with a breast surgeon, who then referred me to an Oncologist as I had to have chemotherapy before surgery and radiotherapy.
Once chemo was finished, I was referred back to the breast surgeon who, together with a plastic surgeon, performed my mastectomy and reconstruction. I was then passed back to the oncologist for radiotherapy.
The thing with The Cancer is that there is still so much that is unknown. No one can predict how you will react to the various treatments, how effective it will be and what side-effects you will have to deal with. If any oncologists read this I am sure they will be horrified and insulted, but I can’t help thinking that chemotherapy is 50% science, research and experience, 30% luck and 20% magic. All they can do is treat you to the best of current knowledge. Which is so much better now than even a couple of decades ago, but it is definitely no guarantee.
The doctors who will treat you will have studied for years and have seen and treated many patients. They will do their very best for you. But it is sometimes difficult not to be a little intimidated by their knowledge, intelligence and life-saving abilities. Often they are busy and some can be very short and direct, and not very open to answering questions. Some may have slightly inflated egos, which I guess comes with saving people’s lives on a daily basis. As a patient, we often don’t want to be a bother, and we want our life-saving doctors to like us, so we are sometimes reluctant to open our mouths during consultations. Remember that for them, you are one of many, but for you, you are of the utmost importance, so you need to overcome any intimidation you might feel and ask away. Even if you think you might be asking a stupid question.
Your team of medical professionals may have seen and treated hundreds of cancer patients, but the chances are they have no idea what it feels like to be sitting on the other side of the consultation desk. Remember, as wonderful as our doctors are, they are human too.