What happens post treatment?

Hi

well done and congratulations!!!

I’m also a private patient & ill be finishing rads on the 9/12,  have the iv bone stuff on the 11th and then see consultant on Friday the 13th, hoping that’s not an omen!

i saw #1 onc when I finished chemo and will see him in 6 months not sure why though. Not sure if I’ll get mammograms etc when I see the consultant next either.

as far as I understand it, we’ve been discharged from the nhs and so won’t get any follow up through them or via the gp. All appointments will come from the consultant/hospital not the gp. I think I’m right in that I’ll have annual mammograms etc through the insurance with my current consultant for 5 years. After that I revert back to the nhs or pay myself to carry on with annual checks. 
I’d be interested in anyone’s else’s experiences though x

Bumping cos someone must know something 

Hi

All J got post treatment (mastectomy, chemo/herceptin and rads) was an annual review for 5 years which was mammogram of 'righty' only no ultrasound of surgery side and axilla or other scans whatsoever - This was all through the NHS

Could be so much better than leaving the ball in your court for being vigilant :-/

G n' J

Thank you both for responding. I’m slightly worried if all the annual checks consist of is a mammogram. My mammogram at diagnosis didn’t show anything, It was the ultrasound and biopsy that confirmed it :( 

That’s one of my concerns too, unaffected boob has had surgery many yrs ago due to Poland’s syndrome and has a prosthetic which hasn’t been checked for 30 yrs so I’d like to know what’s going on underneath it!

i would prefer ultrasound as on both so I’m planning on asking, even if we have personally pay for it if it’s possible would be a start. 

Hiya,

I think the cost of an Ultrasound Privately is around £175 - £200 or for both sides the figure is more like £250 - £300

This may seem a price worth paying yearly for recurrence worries, however this wouldn't help much regarding secondaries which with BC are more commonly found to migrate into Bone, Lungs, Liver etc

G n' J

Hi

When it comes to secondary BC I guess there is nothing you can do to spot reoccurance other than be aware of any arising symptoms...

thanks 

Hi

As far as I am aware everyone is offered an annual mammogram, if you have had a mastectomy you won’t have a mammogram on that area , just the unaffected side and the general rule is that ultrasound is not offered- I had a lump which I found but the subsequent mammogram and ultrasound failed to pick up that my breast was actually also full of DCIS that was starting to break through, so it appears that unfortunately none of the scans etc are infallible anyway. 
I had chemo and am taking Tamoxifen so see my oncologist once a year , however my mum didn’t need chemo and saw her breast surgeon for subsequent follow ups ,I’ve been told that again these are for 5 years, although as the ER+ treatments are now to be taken for 10 years my oncologist thinks I will be passed back to my GP after the 5years , with continued access to the breast nurses if there are any issues. 

  I am not really concerned about my primary breast cancer anymore , it is more the fact that secondaries are so difficult to spot and incurable, whatever type of cancer you have, so for me personally I would rather more money was spent on researching this and less on follow ups , but this is just my thoughts , I know everyone has their own thoughts on the subject.

x