Delay doc appts to avoid med facilities during COVID pandemic?

Options
13»

Comments

  • JaneQPoppy
    JaneQPoppy Member Posts: 141
    edited July 2020

    Giving this a bump.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • CCGirl
    CCGirl Member Posts: 89
    edited July 2020

    Hi Jane

    I had BC in 1998. Went 22 years before I had it again. Every year I had a mammo (after the every 6 months thing for the first two years). Sometimes I had to go back in for a redo on the mammo. Sometimes I had to have a biopsy. This year, I found a lump myself and sure enough. It’s a new cancer, not a recurrence. But it was still pretty early and very treatable.

    Call your oncologist and see if she can do a telecast with you and answer your questions and relieve some of your concerns. One thing I learned over the last 20 years is that BC doesn’t move very fast unless it’s a particularly virulent type, which given your DX doesn’t seem likely. Give that Texas is having a huge uptick in Covid cases, and you’re diabetic (me, too) you are wise to postpone your visit to the mammography center until it calms down again. You’re still on Arimidex, which is good. It’s all about risk vs. benefit. And right now, it seems as though the risk of Covid is a lot greater than the potential of your oncologist finding something in your breast. Do a good home check in the shower with soap. If you don’t feel anything unusual, you’re probably good to go for several months anyway.

    Good luck!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • JaneQPoppy
    JaneQPoppy Member Posts: 141
    edited July 2020

    CCGirl & Annie-2

    A million thanks for your replies. Are y'all replying to my OP or to my latest post? (At the bottom of the previous page.) I did have a mammogram and a biopsy in a cancer center (not a hospital)...

    In my latest post I said:

    "The biopsy found atypical ductal hyperplasia... The surgeon recommends an excision/lumpectomy. (This is on the right side. I had my original lumpectomy on the left.)"

    Would you give me your thoughts on my updated sitch? Thanks so much!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited July 2020

    Jane - I'm in Houston and I've been cancelling all my doc appointments. I think the best thing to do is talk to your doc and see how urgent they think feel the lumpectomy is. Maybe even get a second opinion. That can probably be done virtually. Mays is an NCI designated facility.

    https://www.cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/cancer-centers/find#Tennessee

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Salamandra
    Salamandra Member Posts: 1,444
    edited July 2020

    I've been in NYC including during our peak time, and in your shoes I think I'd be exploring delaying the procedure.

    Life got really super stressful for everyone involved in the medical field. They were reusing PPE and using nonstandard PPE and working crazy hours. They pulled medical professionals from all kinds of backgrounds and specializations to work with COVID cases. It's not even just about the chances of catching COVID - if I didn't have to have a medical procedure by professionals working under those kinds of stressful conditions, I'd rather not.

    But I don't know what the situation will be like for you. It's possible that at this point they're more prepped with ample PPE, staffed, etc. But at least I'd ask the doctor what he thinks about the possibility of delaying. Also - your oncologist may/will probably have no idea about the large impact of COVID on medical care, but there will be people somewhere in the medical system who have been thinking about this. So you could ask them about it, but I wouldn't expect an oncologist to be able to accurately predict what COVID response will be.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • JaneQPoppy
    JaneQPoppy Member Posts: 141
    edited July 2020

    Well, as of right now, San Antonio is the hotspot in Texas, which is one of the hotspots in the country. Hospitals are crammed and some are approaching capacity. This would be an outpatient procedure, but I don't want to set foot IN a hospital for any reason.

    I have a feeling the surgeon and the oncologist will both be on board with delaying any lumpectomy (or "excisional biopsy") for a good while and tell me to have another mammogram in six months. We're not going to be out of the COVID woods for a loooooong time.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited July 2020

    Jane - I think you're right. We are in a mess. Hope it doesn't double again after the Fourth of July.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • edwards750
    edwards750 Member Posts: 3,761
    edited July 2020

    I was ambivalent about having my mammogram done too but the West Cancer Clinic where I have had all my treatments was a place I felt “safe” in going to. They take extreme measures to make sure you are “okay” to be treated or have an exam

    I’m 9 years out next month so I know I’m blessed. No guarantees but still reason to be optimistic.

    As for other doctors appointments I have gone to my eye doctor and will see my internist for my annual blood profile. I’ve postponed my dental procedure until after my regular exam scheduled next month.

    This is a really scary time for all of us. My husband and I are both high risk so we are overly cautious.

    Diane

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • CCGirl
    CCGirl Member Posts: 89
    edited July 2020

    Hi Jane,

    I was responding to the post at the top of the page - so sorry, I didn’t have all of the info. But that said, you’re in a very hot spot for Covid, and unless there’s a real chance that not having an immediate surgery is going to impact your overall prognosis, waiting is probably safer. You need to talk with your surgeon and oncologist to decide this as they should be able to give you more info based on your OncoType test and any other testing they’ve done.

    If you decide to go ahead, chances are very good that you’ll not be exposed to Covid. The hospitals (at least the ones I went to) are extremely careful, and the Covid patients are isolated from the rest of the hospital population. Also, if you have outpatient surgery (I had a double mastectomy on March 25 in outpatient), you’ll be in and out in a few hours and on your way home. I’m really high risk (diabetes, and of course, cancer) but despite a rapidly climbing case rate at the time in Massachusetts, I coasted through it and felt safe. I’ve been having chemo at the local hospital since the beginning of May, and that too has been consistently sterile and safe. I wear an 95 mask when I go in and keep it on the whole time. But I don’t feel as though I’m in danger of catching anything. And the hospital screens everyone repeatedly for symptoms and fever.

    I guess it all boils down to what your personal comfort level is and if you feel as though you need to do something right away or if it can wait a bit. Get as much info as you can, and then make your decision. Good luck!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Mstein1970
    Mstein1970 Member Posts: 48
    edited July 2020

    Salamandra (and any other New Yorkers), are you being treated at Sloan Kettering's Breast Center? In June, I postponed my 6-month checkup there, and now I'm wondering whether to keep my rescheduled appointment in early August. I have not left my apartment on since March, and I think I'm more afraid of the elevator and public spaces in my building and the cab ride to MSK than I am of the medical facility itself. I've been in treatment since the fall of 2016, and had my last mammogram, exam and blood tests in December.

    The latest news about the virus lingering in the indoor air for a very long time is frightening to me. But I think that after this lull in cases in NY, we'll have another spike from premature reopenings, and then it will be even more dangerous than it is now to keep a doctor's appointment.

    I was first diagnosed at Mount Sinai, which I can walk to, and which has a street-level breast-cancer facility. There's an oncologist I like there, so while I'm not thinking of a permanent switch, I'm thinking of going to Sinai for my next exam and blood tests. I mentioned this idea to the nurse at Sloan Kettering, and she wasn't opposed to it.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • HersheyKiss
    HersheyKiss Member Posts: 550
    edited July 2020

    Mstein, I had my breast exam and labs done by my PCP. The labs were identical to the ones my MO orders: CBC and metabolic panel. The PCP's office is right down the street, no need for a ride share or cab. Who knows who has been riding in those vehicles or how well and often the interiors are cleaned and disinfected? If Mount Sinai is unopposed to seeing you, that option sounds like a much safer one to me. Good luck with your decision.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Mstein1970
    Mstein1970 Member Posts: 48
    edited July 2020

    Thanks, HersheyKiss. I'm going to contact the Mount Sinai doctor.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Mstein1970
    Mstein1970 Member Posts: 48
    edited July 2020

    Thanks, HersheyKiss. I'm going to contact the Mount Sinai doctor.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Salamandra
    Salamandra Member Posts: 1,444
    edited July 2020

    Heya,

    I do go to MSK. My spring appointments were postponed or done by phone, but I am planning to go in now for the summer. My understanding is that even if the virus lingers, you need to be exposed to a certain amount of it to get it. So like if 8 people breathing covid rode an elevator for twenty minutes then left and then right away you got in and stayed in the elevator for twenty minutes, there would be real chance of catching it. But for my personal risk evaluation normal use cases of elevators shouldn't be too risky. But that's just me and I'm not a doctor.

    One thing to maybe support this is that they're not seeing a bunch of subway/bus cases in NYC, even though the people riding the subway/buses are mostly higher risk groups (essential workers). If long subway rides aren't getting people sick, I think short elevator rides are ok. Even so much more so if people are actually wearing masks indoors.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • JaneQPoppy
    JaneQPoppy Member Posts: 141
    edited July 2020

    If anyone is still following my story. Scroll up to my LAST posts on July 4-5, NOT the original post at the top of the page.

    I finally got a copy of my biopsy results. I have "atypical lobular hyperplasia." (I erroneously said it was atypical ductal hyperplasia before I saw the biopsy report.) I zoomed with the surgeon last Friday and we decided to do nothing right now and do another mammogram in six months. The affected cells comprise an area of 3 mm. She said it might very well be that in six months there will be nothing there at all, as the core (stereo) biopsy might have gotten everything. In any case, in six months, if there is a change, it won't be a huge one. Heck, I took Arimidex for FIVE YEARS (just stopped a month ago) to ward off this sort of thing, right?

    If I decide to go ahead with the "excisional biopsy" (euphemism for lumpectomy or as my other doc said "partial mastectomy"!) would be done on an outpatient basis in a building that does procedures but has no inpatients. The hospitals here are filling up with COVID patients, and frankly, I would not want to take any medical personnel away from patients who really need them to deal with something like this that can wait.

    So that's where we are right now. See y'all in six months.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited July 2020

    Jane - good luck. Please do let us know the results.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories