Post-Surgery Follow-Ups
I had a lumpectomy in August 2021, followed by chemo, and declined radiation. What I'm wondering is if my follow-up care is typical of others. I have never seen my surgeon in person since the morning of my surgery. I have had 2 telephone "visits" with her, but nothing in person and no in person visits scheduled. I had a mammogram on the surgical site in February 2022 and a mammogram on both breasts in June 2022 - both of which showed no problems. When the surgeon called to tell me the results of the mammogram in June, she said that my next mammogram will be in June 2023. I thought that mammograms were typically done every six months post-surgery. So I'm wondering what kind of follow-up care others are receiving.
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Were your visit televisits due to COVID restrictions. Otherwise I am sort of surprised because in my limited experience surgeon want to see the area they operated on (same with the radiologist in my case the only televisit I have been offered is with the medical oncologist)
I had a lumpectomy in Feb of this year saw my surgeon 2 weeks later and 3 months after that in may and then will see her again Dec
I had a mammogram in March only because the RO wanted one before I started radiation ( I have a follow up with her in Nov) (Obviously since you didn’t have radiation so that isn’t in the equation)
I have a mammogram scheduled for December (It was going to be scheduled for January but the medical oncologist decided to piggyback her appointment with the day of the surgeon and have a mammogram on the same day) but the radiologist who did the mammogram in March wrote that I didn’t need another one for a year which I thought was odd at the time but I did read on another cancer site that general recommendations after breast surgery are yearly however some doctors choose to follow more closely
I honestly think after I see the surgeon in December and the RO in November they will drop off the list of people I see and I will end up with the Medical oncologist for the next 5 years (which could be virtual visits if they are easier to schedule) and yes I think unless something in December gives them a reason to be concerned they will probably recommend yearly mammograms. I’m not sure how I feel about that at this moment but I do know some people end up with alternating u/s with mammograms so they are still getting something done every 6 month0 -
I do think the telephone visits probably were covid related, but I'm pretty miffed that nobody seemed to be very interested in how I was healing after the surgery. At the end of each of my mammograms, the radiologist said that I should go back for my next mammogram in 2 years! I've actually had a pretty disappointing experience with the HMO I belong to. The first medical oncologist I saw was really strange with weird ideas (such as herbal remedies, moving 300 miles away so I'd be closer to my son, horrible predictions about what I'd go through with chemo, etc.), then the second medical oncologist was pretty uncaring when I had side effects like a scary reaction during the first chemo infusion, a rash on my neck, arms and hands. So I'm on my third medical oncologist who is much more caring and rational about treatment options. It's because of my previous experiences that I'm wondering if I'm getting substandard care or if this is typical follow-up treatment plans. I truly hate telephone visits, though.
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I understand completely about disliking the telephone visit. Obviously there are certain times they make sense but surgery aftercare really doesn’t feel like one of them. I’m hoping someone whose surgery was more on your timeline can chime in. Obviously so much goes into treatment and follow up and it is going to differ depending on the type of surgery and other treatments that happen. Like I said I won’t be surprised if in December the surgeon doesn’t release me from her care. But I honestly can’t remember any of them saying up front how often they expect to see me or how often they want me to have a mammogram but obviously I think it’s bizzare that a radiologist would tell you every 2 years
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