I feel grateful for not having a personal history with breast cancer at this point of my life, but I did work with breast cancer patients in an oncology office. Here is a list of things that I learned while on the job that you may not know:
1). There are many types of breast cancer. You could have one type of cancer in one breast and another type in the other breast at the same time. Complete all of the imaging your doctors are ordering because it is important for them to know what type of cancer you have in order to find the appropriate treatments.
2). Men can get breast cancer too. Even though they say it is rare, I personally know of at least one male breast cancer survivor. I scheduled mammograms, breast ultrasounds, breast MRIs and breast biopsies for many other male patients over the four years I worked in oncology.
3). If you have an HMO insurance, chances are your primary care provider will be providing authorization for you to go to certain medical facilities. Make sure you see your primary care provider often and have a good rapport with them. Here is why: When I worked in an oncology office, our doctors and nurses would refer our patients to another medical facility for a STAT or ASAP specialized treatment, a second opinion, etc. Patients that had an HMO insurance would potentially take over a month to even get scheduled due to the authorization/ out of network/ letter of agreement process.
4). Try to stay with the same medical imaging facility for all of your breast imaging, if possible. If you bounce around between multiple locations, it is possible that you will still have to re-do your imaging to get a “clearer” picture. When I was scheduling patients for their STAT and ASAP appointments, sometimes they would go to one imaging facility for their mammogram and ultrasound. Then they would get an MRI at another location and try to get a breast biopsy at a third. The location that was scheduling for the breast biopsy needed the patient to re-take the mammogram at their facility even though they got the images from outside facilities, and it prolonged the process. Also, it takes time to get images from one facility to another and that also prolonged the process.
5). In the medical field, ASAP means as soon as possible, or within the next few days. STAT means now, today or tomorrow if you cannot possibly do it today. There are no opportunities to schedule for STAT MRIs, mammograms, or specialized procedures such as biopsies. Those appointments are scheduled the next available. If something is truly STAT and it cannot be scheduled outpatient, then it needs to be an emergency visit. Doctors may order your imaging as STAT because of the serious nature, but it cannot always be scheduled as such. Make sure to clarify with your doctor what they need from you. Usually, the STAT appointments are reserved for things like doppler ultrasounds looking for blood clots, or chest x-rays looking for an obstruction of the airways- things that are a true emergency.
My list is meant to help people who are diagnosed with breast cancer and are overwhelmed with the process. When I was scheduling in oncology, I saw myself as a patient advocate. I was there to provide a smooth process of scheduling and give patients a peace of mind. All they had to do was show up to their appointments. Sometimes I had to give the doctors and nurses patient’s wishes after they left their appointment and thought about things. Sometimes that meant going against what the doctor ordered because the patient did not want to do it, or they decided to go a different direction with their medical care.
Behind Every Pink Ribbon is a Story of Strength
There is courage when someone opens up to talk about their experience, especially when it is something as intimate as breast cancer. If you would like to share your story, I would love to hear. If you have any questions about the scheduling process, I am here for you.
