Doctors who have breast cancer themselves

I'm sorry you were diagnosed. It is a lot to take in no matter what your vocation. I am not sure there would be a group specifically for physicians or nurses and the many many others with medical knowledge but what about posting a notice at your cancer centre? I am not sure how having medical knowledge would make a difference or would be peer specific enough. Like lawyers who get into legal trouble there wouldn't be much other than the one thing you have in common so maybe just a general breast cancer support group would help?

Edited to add (after the scolding). :-) I thought you meant a local in person group and thought there wouldn't be enough members to make it worth while. My EPOE4 gene active early me thinks. Sorry. I think a specific thread sounds good.

Evelyn7,

I am a medical practitioner, an anaesthetist - I work on the GC Australia - and I was diagnosed 3 years ago. I told everyone in my practice - hard not to - there are 3 women and 23 men in our group and two of us were diagnosed within a month of each other. The two of us had coffee and talked about it once - we talk a lot about work. She is a cracking hot professional an I have respect for her style of practice. We chose different surgeons, different oncologist and had different treatment paths although both HR positive. I chose not to tell Melbourne and the tertiary hospital I worked in until 6 years ago ( I did not see the point - although I did get some information from a pathologist and an oncologist from Melbourne).

I agree with you and I will be specific - I think the doctors with BC make an interest cohort. If for nothing else then for some of the questions I have been asked since diagnosis - does being a patient myself make more empathetic?? No actually it makes me tired and cranky - and I work less and exercise more - so, no, I am afraid I am not a better doctor or mother or woman for having BC. Do I advocate more for BC? Yes absolutely BUT before I had other causes that caught my interest and I worked harder at them then now....You get my drift.

I get the impression you are newly diagnosed - please feel free to PM me. There is a great member Traveltext - male Brisbane - he read a rather accurate post on my diagnosis experience and the workings of my treatment plan ( including having three of the surgeons I gas for offering to take my breast off - it was honest and raw - I deleted it- mostly because I thought no one would get it - funny he did, but he is a clever bloke - later I learned he is an editor. Edit : Having said that I did get swift access to services on the Coast and everyone around me has been super supportive. I dont what was in the water here three years ago because several nurses got diagnosed as well - they too got treated timely - and to be honest I have had more BC conversations with them than my rooms colleague - I guess there is a shared knowledge assumption, where as the nursing staff are happier to ask questions, chat.

On a practical level when I try and see too far ahead I remind myself to focus on the days, weeks, months in front. I am outdoors a lot more and love it.

That is it from me for now:)

Edit again Omy gosh the typos but if I stop for syntax the ideas will not stop for me....

There’s a few doctors with breast cancer hanging out on Twitter, a female surgeon from Sussex, Liz O’Riordan, is one that comes to mind, and Kelly Shanahan from California is another. The hashtag #bcsm is one to follow

I can imagine why you’d like to link up with your profession evelyn7. I can vouch for gas expert Wildplaces. She has a sense of humour to boot, something which, when acquired in this medical setting, is quite refreshing and a welcome distraction.

But, don’t be shy interacting on the boards that interest you here, since this is the home of some great long-term patients who have been there, done that, with every aspect of this crappy disease.

If you decide to stay, put in your signature details and that makes it easier for members to remember your diagnosis and treatment details.

evelyn7 So, no chemo, that's lucky; caught early, that's good; ER/HR+, HER2-, best outcomes.

Here's some articles I've written:

http://malebc.org/resilience/

http://malebc.org/hope-and-fear

You're right, this is a complex disease, and recovery is a bit of a long road, but with the good support and treatment you've had to date, you've off to afine start.

My sister’s BS died from BC.

Diane

Hi Evelyn7, I am a FNP who was diagnosed in May of this year. Mine also caught me off guard and along with it many emotions I did not expect. It is not easy being on the other side of the stethoscope. I think our knowledge can be a blessing and a curse through this experience. I practice in family medicine and have never done oncology. This has been a rapid learning curve. I have found this site invaluable over the past months and finally decided to post. I think my needs now are getting back into the routine of work and remembering to take better care of myself in the process. I would appreciate a group more specific to health care providers too. Best wishes.

Dear beachlife4me,

Welcome to the BCO community. We so appreciate your sharing your story in this thread. We hope that you will continue to stay active here and connect with other health care professionals also dealing with breast cancer. Please let us know how we can be of help.

The Mods

Hi beachlife4me, I was diagnosed in 09/09/19. I am a former ER nurse and now pre op and pacu nurse. I never got closer to BC than recovering patients in the pacu. It was a steep learning curve.

Thank you for mentioning the psych that's trained to manage the experience of cancer. I think I am ready now for that referral now. I was lucky enough to be able to work part time while going through surgery/radiation. I was actually in the process of changing jobs to a busy family practice when I was diagnosed. I opted to remain at my previous job which did allow much more flexibility. I currently do primary care visits in the home/assisted living setting. I am ready ( I think) to pick back up the pace but still not full time. This has been a tough decision for many reasons. I do not want the stress level/work load I had previously. I also feel I need the routine back now. I went through periods of trying to decide if I would go back or to what extent. I felt like I needed the mental time to heal as well. Did any others of you have the same feelings and how did you handle it?