A Diet to Die For! Breast Cancer in Canada.

I received an email from Princess Margaret Hospital about their new fast track “Rapid Diagnosis”, which, in essence, says that women can have a biopsy and a treatment plan within hours.

I guess some people might find that a good thing, but having gone through breast cancer myself, there is way too much information to absorb to make such a life-changing decision within a few hours of a diagnosis.

Am I the only one that finds this a not-so-good thing? Are women really that uninterested to learn more about their cancer before taking directions from a  bunch of strangers, all spewing the same thing.

Let me guess … the Rapid Diagnosis treatment options are:

1. Lumpectomy + radiation: Recovery time is only a few hours to a few days.
2. Radiation + lumpectomy + further radiation: Recovery time is also only a few days since radiation is not painful or invasive.
3. Chemotherapy + surgery + further chemotherapy + radiation: Recovery time is approximately one year.

Number 3 was the so-called “treatment plan” I was told I needed — basically, they throw everything at you and hope that something sticks.

From the time I had the biopsy to the time I received a treatment plan, it was exactly one week — and a bunch of strangers (pathologist, surgical oncologist and medical oncologist) had already decided what my plan should be — all strangers who didn’t ask me a single question about what might be best for me.

I can’t imagine what I would be like now had I not researched everything I could about the type of breast cancer I have — not all breast cancers are created equal and I really hope the women who utilize Rapid Diagnosis take time to think about all the options they have, and not be brain dead.