I am about to finish my radiation and have an appt. with my surgeon in March. He has told me I will go on meds for 5 years, but who puts me on this? The surgeon, or will he send me to an oncologist? And how often will they see me?
Thank you to everyone who answered my question. I will finish my radiation tomorrow and then go back to see my surgeon on the 11th of March. I guess he will let me know then what he is taking care of and who else I see from there. He never mentioned an oncologist to me in the past. I had my biopsy done and when they called me with the results they told me I needed a surgeon and said he was tops and was who they would see if they had my problem. So I swent to him. He is a wonderful surgeon. I just get worried of not being totally in control, I guess.
@A MyBCTeam Member: I saw my Oncologist first. She walked me through the entire process and I have seen her every 3 months since I started in 2007. Don't wait for anyone (surgeon, PCP, etc.) to do this; you have to be your own advocate. All it takes is a phone call to make your appointment. Your Oncologist is the person who should be in charge of this journey.
I had a friend who got 3 oncology opinions. The first two told her she would need chemo. The third one asked her if she had onco type testing done. She said, "what's that?" The first two oncologists never even told her about it. Once she got the test and ended up with a low score it was determined that in her case chemo would not have benefitted her! It sure would have benefitted the incologist's wallet, though! So a second and maybe even a third opinion is always a good idea. Be your own advocate. Ask a lot of questions.
I personally saw my surgeon first and he scheduled the biopsy. He was also the one to call me and tell me I had breast cancer. After the call, his nurse made me an appointment with my oncologist. My oncologist was the one to explain the pathology report and explained my options (what chemo he recommended, a trial I would fit in, and explained about surgery and radiation). Most seems to have surgery first, but I did not since I did the trial. So I saw my oncologist every 3 weeks. I didn't see my surgeon again until 5 months later when he did my bilateral mastectomy. I now take tamoxifen and see my oncologist every 3 months.
Are you finished with treatment and have never seen an oncologist?
I had this confused early on. The gyn/breast surgeon is who I saw first several times before surgery and twice after surgery. Before surgery her office made an appointment for me to meet with the team radiologist and medical oncologist but I thought it wasn't necessary to see them until after surgery. Now I think I probably should have seen them because maybe I would have been put on AI's before my BC spread. There is so much to know and learn about this entire complicated process.
How long after surgery do you see an oncologist? I haven't yet and I had my surgery on 20th of July.