“Katherine, this is Dr. — [my gynecologist]. Please call me back. I have test results that I’d like to discuss.” Gulp. The only medical test I’ve had recently was a mammogram on July 20. I call her, pronto. Her explanation: “They’ve found an area that needs further examination. No, they didn’t say what the issue is. Call them and schedule an appointment.”
I live in San Francisco, home of all things related to sexuality. Except, it appears, this issue. When will they get it?: when it comes to breasts, and breast health, we are talking about the very essence of who we are, heart and soul, as women? We don’t want to be told to wait to find out if we have breast cancer.
My phone call to the “breast health center” yields, after a 10 minute wait, a scheduling rep barely able to speak English, who promises me an appointment on August 13. All booked until then. You have GOT to be kidding?! You want me to WAIT 16 days to see if I have breast cancer? And what about an interpretation of what they found? “Well, Ms. Forsythe, I really don’t know, but you should have received a letter from us explaining. You might want to check your mailbox.” Oh, please. HELLO! I received no letter, no explanation. Can you please connect me to a medical professional who can explain what my mammogram indicated? “Yes, Ms. Forsythe, I can take your number and have them call you back.” (They never did.)
I proceeded to push up the leadership ladder to get an appointment now, and find out what’s wrong. I want an appointment TODAY. This is my body, these are my breasts. I want to know NOW if I have breast cancer. Nothing else matters. I try to call the “higher ups” to get help. I get this: No living breathing people. Please leave a message for: 1. The Breast Health Center Manager (who, it turns out, is not in today and has no backup). 2. The customer service agent who promises to call me back within 24 hours (24 hours? THIS is customer service in a clinic whose sole purpose is about breast cancer?). 3. The chief Radiologist who reads these results, a senior sounding male, who also promises to call back (and never did … but what was I thinking … doctor as god does not have to call you back, of course.) 4. Before I call the Chief Nursing Administrator, I call the lowly scheduler again. This time, I get English as the first language. Please connect me to SOME medical professional who can help me. She connects me to “Sally” (name changed), nurse of some flavor. Sally hears my desperate plea to be seen NOW, so that I don’t go into clinical depression by August 13. She will call me back in one hour. Amazingly, she does. I’ll be seen tomorrow at 3PM. I exhale. I am exhausted.
Its an old, tired story and it doesn’t have to be that way. No, ladies, it doesn’t have to be like this. Listen to me: YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO FIND OUT WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU RIGHT NOW. This is YOUR body. Take control of it. Learn to be your own advocate. The health care system is so muddled up that there are vast gaping black holes. You can fall in, nobody cares, and in most cases, no one is going to reach in with a helping hand to pull you out. You must do it for yourself.
What if you took your car into the mechanic, and he/she said, “We’ve found something that could cause you to crash into a telephone pole and burn up at any time. Might be very dangerous. We just don’t know exactly what is wrong. By the way, we are not going to tell you what we suspicion is wrong. Just bring the car back in 17 days, and we’ll do more tests. Good luck in the meantime.” Would you stand for that? What would you do? If this car scenario doesn’t suit you, substitute your dog, your cat, even your child in the above scenario.
Of course, you wouldn’t put up with it for a minute! The same is true when it comes to your breast health care. Own it, ladies. Push for what you want. Don’t let the system dictate what you must do. Don’t let any degree or position intimidate you. Get the information and procedures you need, now, or go somewhere else.
Here’s hope: Can you imagine a system where there is a navigator, a person who takes your hand, is your advocate, and guides you through the maze of medical spider webs in breast health? What if, in this same system, they did not let you leave after your first screening mammogram if anything suspicious showed up? What if they kept you there, did the follow-up diagnostic tests on the spot? Then, if something needed to be aspirated or biopsied, it was done right then, with the advocate by your side?
Don’t ask me what I have been smoking! This system exists! Unfortunately for me, the one I found is in Georgia. Check it out: MCGHealth, the premier healthcare system of Georgia. Platinum customer service from medical professionals who know how to give it does exist. At MCGHealth, they don’t settle for less.
In the meantime, remember: this is YOUR body, the only one you have. These are YOUR breasts, the only ones you have. This is what makes you a woman, helps define your sexuality. Demand what you need. You are the customer. Don’t be intimidated. The life you save may be your own. Nobody else is going to do it for you.
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