Annie expected to have to fight to be able to switch healthcare professionals but it was an easy process.

Transcript

Except that for me, in the Fall I had seen a radio oncologist for the first time to plan the treatments after the surgery. But I can’t say that it went very well, but it was ok. But when I saw her again after the surgery, I was really discouraged after seeing her. She told me that it could go at least to the second degree, that it was certain. It was automatic… that I would have a hard time to eat, and she was, everything to discourage me.  I was already scared of the radiotherapy! Frankly, I found that it was not reassuring me at all. During few days I seriously thought of not even having radiotherapy because with the type of cancer that I have I was telling myself “Is it worthwhile to suffer so much for the time I have left to live?” I then asked to change doctor. I called the hospital and asked to change doctor. I said that it was not working for me with that person, that if I was really to burn to the second degree I needed someone with empathy since that person didn’t have any. That’s it. I thought I would have to fight with them, feel some resistance because I was asking to change doctor, but no, they immediately did it. And after, with the second doctor, it went very well. He was super nice. So it was the second one that talked to me about the hotel. And he told me “No, if I see that the burning is too severe we will do, we will work at controlling it so that you burn as little as possible. Yes, you will burn, a little bit like a sunburn. It was much less… listening to him it was not as bad as what the other told me… What the second one told me is what happened.

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• Reconstruction surgery – Annie
  Annie had a lot of skin removed due to her inflammatory breast cancer; she was advised to wait 2 years before thinking about reconstruction.
• Surgery – Annie
  Annie describes how she felt immediately after having a double mastectomy.
• Relating to health care professionals – Annie
  Annie expected to have to fight to be able to switch healthcare professionals but it was an easy process.
• Testing and diagnosis – Annie
  When Annie heard she needed a follow-up she underwent most testing within a day in a private clinic.
• First symptoms – Annie
  Annie, diagnosed with a rare form of inflammatory breast cancer, noticed that her breast was red, hot, painful, and swollen.
• Work and finances – Annie
  The support from colleagues does not always happen as we would like, explains Annie.
• Recurrent and metastatic (advanced) breast cancer – Annie
  It was difficult for Annie to wait for several weeks for the test results.
• Follow-up care and the risk of recurrence – Annie
  Annie had support through a Facebook group involving women in a similar situation.