Loser

Tonight Steve and I went to the community consultation session for the “Up Front: New Perspectives on Breast Cancer” research project. The purpose of the session was to discuss research findings to date and then to gather in small discussion groups to talk about suggestions to improve breast cancer prevention and care. I’d guess there were probably 60 people in attendance, mainly women of course. I asked Steve if he was uncomfortable being only 1 of 3 men there but he said he actually didn’t even notice since he’s used to being surrounded by women at work. The average age of the women was probably 50ish, all at various stages; some survivors for many years, some going through treatments now and others just finished their treatments. As part of our small discussion groups, each person had to introduce themselves and tell a bit about their story. I don’t like these situations at the best of times. When it was my turn, I got out about 3 words then I lost it. I was half crying and half laughing because I openly talk to everyone about what’s happening on a daily basis with no problem but tonight it took me a few minutes to find the words. I felt like a loser but what better people to fall apart in front of than a group of breast cancer survivors.

Anyway, the common feeling among everyone was that there is no standard of care for breast cancer patients. Once you are told you have breast cancer (or probably any cancer) you’re put on this assembly line. You meet with your doctor, go off and have some tests, then you’re moved along to the surgeon, more test, then you move on to the medical oncologist, then the radiation oncologist etc. The feeling among those who have done the full cycle is that there are many silos in the process when what you really need more is of a team approach or a navigator to bring some continuity to the experience. All in all, an interesting evening.

Off to bed,

me