What is your long-term follow up plan with breast surgeon?

i saw my breast surgeon maybe once after my mastectomy. He removed my portacath after chemo so i saw him in the OR. I don’t see him at all. I see my MO regularly and my PCP annually. I see my plastic surgeon for reconstruction follow ups but probably only have one more visit with him. What are you looking for from your breast surgeon

I saw my BS once after my initial surgery. She removed the staples she had placed during surgery.

An oncologist is the one who typically monitors for recurrence.

I am 7 years out last August. I have my annual mammograms and then see my BS’ associate. I know the results of my mammogram before I leave the breast clinic so the follow up with the BS office is just a precautionary thing. Neither my MO nor I saw the need to see her after I hit the 5 year milestone.

Diane

I'm a little over a year out. I saw my BS 6months out then 6mths later. Now she said see you in a year. See MO evry 6mths. I don't know what the BS has planned when I see her again, she never said how long I had to continue. I do feel a sense of comfort having her check me out though.

Physician extenders such as PAs and NPs are badly needed to fill in when the MD cannot possibly see everyone. They would never have enough time to receive new patients or be in the operating room which is where their special skills and trainingare required. So, I don’t think long term follow-up is to be expected.

I was happy to go to my surgeon’s nurse practitioner especially after lymphedema was diagnosed. We eventually agreed to part ways since my oncology and internal medicine appointments were sufficient to address routine care concerns until metastatic disease showed up.

Certainly if you have ongoing issues such as seroma or suspect a recurrence in the scar, you should be able to access the expert. Otherwise, try to develop a comfort level with other professionals in the office...

My BS was my first doctor I saw upon being diagnosed and he has been my go to guy for everything. He assigned me my MO and PS telling me if I didn't like them I could swap but he picked them based on my individual personality. He was right. Both of them I adore. He also picked my GYN but she ended up not being competent enough (couldn't do a laparoscopic hysterectomy when I needed one) so he picked my second GYN. Also someone I adore. (I was new to town when diagnosed so didn't have any doctors). He's found me an awesome primary care guy and even a doc to do my every-5-years colonoscopy who I love as well. I'm 6 years out and still see him every year and will till he retires. My BS has me schedule him, my MO and my GYN for yearly appointments which are spaced out for every 4 months so that one of those 3 is giving me a hands on breast exam every 4 months just to be on the safe side. And once a year my BS does a mammogram on my native side which is read and reported to him by the time I walk up the stairs to his office so we can go over it. And every other year he does an MRI of both breasts to look for any lumps and to make sure the implant is holding up with no leaks. My PS told me at 5 years I didn't need to see him anymore unless I needed him to swap out the implant or lift my native side for symmetry as I aged. So I'd have to say my BS may be the most important doctor I have as far as breast cancer goes. And he's made sure I have all the resources I need for everything else as well.

Lala sounds like you found a gem.

lala1 i like your BS ideas of scheduling so that you get key appointments spaced quarterly i sam going to work on getting that in place as my appointments are transitioning to 6 month so glad you mentioned it thank you!

My breast surgeon basically said her and I are in it together for the long haul. I’m happy because I really like and trust her. She will be doing all of my follow up monitoring.