Cannula problems

Hi Frankie Frankie21 good that all was ok…… unfortunately there are significant differences between treatment centres and heath boards with regards to the availability of Cancer Nurse Specialists…… I never had a CNS for the first 14 years  

I was given a specialist number to call while on chemo - could call it for anything. Like any side effects or picc line. 

Does he have a ‘cancer treatment book’? The number was supplied in that for me. 

I even called the number on Monday and I haven’t had any treatment since November - just for advice. 

Between like 9-5 it was directed to the chemo unit and then out of hours it went through to on call oncologist specialist nurses. 

Are you in the UK? I am north west England xx

Yes we are in Stockport - he’s being treated at Stepping Hill Hospital in the Laurel suite. 

He did get a phone call yesterday from someone asking how he was doing but that’s the first contact of that kind since his diagnosis.  

it’s all been a bit shambolic. Maybe I’m expecting too much but he’s got cancer! 

Hi - I live in the South and was treated in what I believe is a relatively big hospital (650 beds, for reference). I had a booklet with numbers and details... 9 to 5 Mo-Fri I just had to ring hospital reception and say extension number and that called the pager of the two CNS. Out of hours and weekends I had to call the ward (there was a section of the hospital for hematology patients staying at the hospital overnight etc) and a nurse would advice, they'd have my details to hand easily as well. 

I contacted the line the first day of chemo as I was having palpitations in the evening, then another time cause I had bone pain and breathlessness, due to the filgrastin injections... and I think that's it. But it gave me so much reassurance to have those numbers. I contacted them via email for what I thought was non-urgent stuff too, and I still do (for example now to ask if I should get covid spring booster).

Then I hope you are seeing the consultant before the start of each cycle (??). 

I guess it's a bit of a postcode lottery