That's how I feel. I started having awful headaches a few months ago. I went to see my surgeon who had replaced my jaw and removed my tongue in March. He gave me sinus spray which did no good. He then had me get a cat scan which came back clear. Then an MRI which came back clear no cancer back which I had feared. He then told me to find another Dr. near where I live to at least see me and give me higher grade pain pills. What Dr. I wondered??? So now I have a call in to the radiologist who did my radiation treatments to see if he will see me and explain to me why I have swelling on my right side of my neck and face and have such pain. I am waiting for him to call me back. I just feel like I was sliced and diced and thrown back now to sink or swim on my own. I just needed to vent thanks.

Hi annabel,

I'm not sure if this is normal for the US. In the UK it's similar. I had radiotherapy daily for 4 weeks, with two doses of chemotherapy. As I had daily visits to the hospital, I could ask to see a doctor at any time to sort out any issues I had. After the end of the treatment I did feel a bit abandoned, as I then had to see my GP (General Practitioner = doctor for day to day problems in the UK) if I needed anything. However the surgery soon learnt my name, and I could see my doctor on the day that I phoned, which is quite unusual in the UK.

If all you need is pain medication then a local doctor should be able to prescribe this for you. Obviously if you have any other concerns then you should be seen by a consultant. In the UK we see our consultant for a check up every couple of months in the first two years after the diagnosis.

Hi Jenni and annabel Lee,

Reading these posts and with all the furore recently surrounding our NHS I have to say that my own experience of the sytem over here has been a good one.

After my intial diagnosis it was only a 3 week wait for my surgery.

When I came out of hospital it had already been arranged with my local surgery for a district nurse to visit every day to replace the dressing on my arm where the skin for the flap had been taken.

When radiotherapy started 9 weeks later I was at the hospital every weekday for 6 weeks and a doctor was always available if I needed one.

I went to see my own GP just after I came out of hospital to update him on everything that had been happening and he already had all the information in front of him.

I am on 3 monthly checks now with my consultant, but I know that if at any time I have any worries I can call and get an appointment within a week.

I think the NHS does a sterling job under what must be very difficult conditions the doctors, nurses and admin staff should be commended.

As I said this is only my own experience, how have others fared?

Regards to all

Rosie

I have nothing but praise for my hospital. Nothing was ever too much trouble and no matter how busy the waiting room they would take time to talk over any concerns I had.
My consultant even came in on has day off to see me, when I took ill unexpectedly.

I agree that once my treatment was finnished I was a bit worried because I had all this care for six weeks, someone on hand every day to help me, then I was on my own so to speak. And this was when I felt worse, but I did have a district nurse everyday, and I could call on my GP anytime.
I fell into depression but was told that this was because for those six weeks I had a purpose (to go to hospital everyday) and now those had stopped I had time to actually realise what I had been through, time to think and my body just went 'OH SH*T' and it made sense so in a way I did feel bit 'abandoned'Its weird how the mind plays tricks with you because its not like that at all. My team were excellent and they still are!
I had another ct scan yesterday and was supposed to wait 10 days for results, I spoke to my support liason nurse and told her my concerns about waiting so long and she changed my appointment. Now i will have my results in 3 days. HOW GREAT IS SHE!!

Just wanted to say it is normal to feel the way you are feeling, we've all been there

Best wishes
Tracey

Hi all,

I have had a similar experience to Tracey and Jenni. A good experience of the NHS. It IS frustrating when I read articles in the press or watch reports on the news about the decrepit state of the NHS. I know in England it is a little bit of a post code lottery and the length of time I have had to wait for some appointments has not really been acceptable prosthetic dentistry etc but it is only because my consultant refers me to specific medical staff if I said to him just let me have the first doctor who has a appointment I would be seen very quickly if I have/had any problems I go directly to the hospital and they see me straight away having said that my GP is fully aware of my medical condition and certainly would not turn me away but I might have a couple of hours wait in the waiting room!!!

I agree it is normal to feel abandoned especially after your radiotherapy/chemo (when it seems like there is an unwritten statement we are done with you now)

Mel x