Cart before the horse

My cancer journey has been a disjointed one, I've learned. I long suspected that I had not done things in the right order, but between the lightening speed from diagnosis to surgery to my own fog surrounding the experience, I was ignorant.

I had a lumpectomy on March 27. Now, I am planning a bi-lateral mastectomy in the fall. Does that make any sense at all? Why in the world would I have one surgery to cut out the tumor and then another to whack off the boobs? Isn't there an unnecessary surgery in there somewhere?

Of course there is!

My Medical Oncologist ranted yesterday for a good 10 minutes about this very subject. Once diagnosed by the radiologist, I should have bypassed the surgeon and gone straight to the oncologist. But the radiologist referred me to the surgeon...so off I went.

The Radiologist goofed. He should have referred me to a Medical Oncologist instead of a surgeon. Oops.

The greater point here is - if heaven forbid YOU ever find yourself in this situation - see your Oncologist before passing GO. First. Before hitting the operating room. Even while you're trying to figure out why this brick has fallen from the sky...chat with an Oncologist.

My Oncologist says a paradigm shift is needed. This is the way it's always been done, but even medical providers need to think before they act. I suppose that's part of the reasoning behind the old saying "You are your own best advocate." But what did I know? I was a puddle on the floor. Scurrying around to fix this damn mess before it mucked up my life too much or worse...killed me.

The Oncologist job is to put two and two together. To look at the big picture and recommend a path. To say "hmmm....the biopsy says you are triple negative and the genetic testing says you have a gene mutation. Perhaps we should just whack 'em off instead of digging out a pea sized tumor to be sure this little problem never bothers you again."

Instead....I will have TWO breast surgeries instead of ONE.

So....repeat after me:  If I am ever diagnosed with a cancer (or possible cancer), I will engage a Medical Oncologist before consenting to other treatment so that I have someone who is really smart about cancer putting together the puzzle pieces in a way that saves my life AND makes sense.