Hi, I’m new to this group. My results were confirmed as cancer last week. Waiting to see Oncologist. How long after seeing Oncologist does treatment normally start?
Hiya, sorry you’ve had such bad news. It really depends on the hospital and area and at the moment times seem to be getting longer anecdotally. My gap was 7 weeks between diagnosis and chemo starting x
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis and finding yourself here. I am using private care and its the following week after meeting onco but then I am not certain this applies for NHS though. Have you done biopsy( I would think yes in order for the confirmation of diagnosis) then you go to lots of scans firstly, Echo and bloods, for them to get baseline and then there's the pre treatment assessment or briefing. However, I did a u turn and wanted operation first so am waiting for mastectomy next Tuesday.
I don't think they would start chemo without scans? Whatever you choose to do, ladies here are wonderfully supportive, and will hold your virtual hand at each stage. The waiting is the hardest and challenging, esp when in a state of limbo. But once you have a plan then you will feel much better
Yes you are correct, I had MRI, CT, bone scan and picc inserted before treatment started. I also had an ecg and echo but you only have these with certain drugs on the nhs x
If you have got a date for onco appointment then it may be helpful to just write down some questions that you may have? I didn't but I wanted the diagnosis explained..somehow we ran out of time as the side effects chats took up the bulk of the discussion. You will be inundated with lots of new medical jargon.
If you could, get someone to accompany you although they may not be able to go into clinic with you. At least you know you're not unsupported
I was 7 weeks from finding the lump to starting treatment,. Exactly 2 weeks from seeing oncologist to chemo starting. In the 7 weeks, I had had mammogram, ultrasound, biopsy, MRI, surgeon appointment, CT scan, then after seeing oncologist, I had a heart scan and had to have a dental check up before starting chemo. Bloods before every chemo but they did my first baseline one at the same time I had the oncologist appointment.
I would recommend taking notes as they bombard you with a lot of information. You should get your whole chemo treatment plan so you'll know what you're life is looking like over the next few months. I had an MRI after the 3rd & 5th cycles to check on shrinkage.
