Did anyone get attached to their surgeon?

My surgeon has only seen me for the 2 week follow-up and didn't mention ever seeing me again. I will just be seeing the oncologist it seems.

I think this is common -

I know what you mean! I kind of fall in love with anyone that cuts me open. I also sued someone once and kind of fell in love with my lawyer! I think it's pretty common as you're bound in a pretty intimate way. I'm sure they are trained on how to deal with it. I also loved my GYNO as I had my babies. Couldn't give a shit now, but at the time it was almost painful!

The last I saw my surgeon was a year ago...when he said, "OK we're going to a once a year schedule." Nuts, to that I said. If he only wants to see me once a year what's the point in that? I'll come back if I have a problem. So he's off my appointment list.

Now my PS...that was one handsome guy...almost TOO handsome. I'd keep him on my appt list if it was appropriate, but all's done, so there's no natural reason to continue there.

I've never developed feelings for my drs. I want to keep a professional distance so I'm not too embarassed to ask certain questions. 

I had a mastectomy 6 weeks ago and I am seeing the breast surgeon tomorrow.  Who follows you for check-ups?  I did not to reconstruction and I still have my right breast.  Does the breast surgeon follow you every 6 months or yearly?  Is he/she the one who sends you for mammograms yearly or every 6 months?  Hadn't thought about this till now.

LaBechtel, I guess I didn't develop such an emotional bond with my breast surgeon.  She was very good, and very caring, but she's not a warm, fuzzy-type person.  Also, she is really busy (more about that in a moment...).

NJMarilyn, I'm 3 years out from my diagnosis.  Like you, I had a mast/SNB without reconstruction, and still have my right breast.  I also had chemo (4 rounds of Taxotere & Cytoxan), and will be on Arimidex for at least another 2-1/2 years (a total of 5 years).  I was/am being treated at a major university-affiliated cancer center that has a "Breast Health Center." 

My breast surgeon is one of the directors of the Breast Health Center.  That might explain why she will be monitoring me for a total of 5 years post-surgery.  That's the policy for BC patients at this particular cancer center.  I see my surgeon once a year. Her office schedules my annual mammogram, plus any additional imaging that might be necessary (last fall I had a breast MRI).  I have a followup appointment with her shortly after the mammogram, to go over the results.  She also does a super-careful breast exam and a general checkup.

In-between those annual visits, I have a followup appointment with my med oncologist.  She does blood work once a year or so, to check liver enzymes (which can be messed up by Arimidex).  Her office coordinates my DEXA bone density scans, and she discusses the results with me.  She also does a super-careful breast exam using a slightly different technique (pattern) than my surgeon; and she checks other relevant stuff.

Who does what when will depend a lot on the policies of the place you're being treated.  My oncologist told me the long-term followup for someone with Stage I BC (monitoring after 5 years) ought to be done by a good internal medicine specialist -- it's not so important to be monitored by an oncologist or a surgeon after that 5-year mark.  The reason is because, as we get older, we have a lot of other medical issues to be thinking about besides breast cancer, like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, other types of cancer, etc.

One way I've been able to get myself to look beyond my "cancer team" and not get too attached to them is to remember how important it was to be able to see them on short notice back when I was in active treatment.  I called my surgeon's office several times during the post-op period with concerns about pain or swelling or my drains mis-behaving, and she had me come in the same day I called.  My oncologist also fit me in somehow when I needed to see her, and she always took as much time as was necessary for me to feel comfortable with what was going on.  I have to stop and think about all the other BC patients who are in that really scary, active-treatment phase right now, and have a more urgent need than I do to get in to see those same docs.

otter

I know that this is totally irrational, but I have grown to hate even the thought of my breast surgeon.  I know that she probably saved my life, but after going from stage 1 to 2b,grade, 3 triple negative, having 2 lumpectomies and a mastectomy, I feel that she mutilated me, even after 2 years have passed.  

Maybe it's how I cope.  I absolutely love my plastic surgeon, feeling like he gave me my femininity back (or something like that.)  Am I alone in this crazy loathing of my breast surgeon???   Janice