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My name is Carol and I have just finished a course of chemotherapy for breast cancer at a hospital in Spain. When I was diagnosed and told I would need a mastectomy and given the choice of having a reconstruction in the same operation, I jumped at the chance, thinking I was saving myself an operation. When my therapy was almost finished, I was sent to Almeria to see the Radiotherapist, to discuss the start date for twenty five Radiotherapy treatments. To my surprise I was told by the Doctor that I was not a good patient for Radiotherapy because of my inplant. This would cause me many problems such as crystallisation of the skin and could cause my inplant to split and leak, plus many more other problems. I was told the panel of Doctors would discuss my case and let me know their decision. I was a little upset to say the least, because if I needed Radiotherapy and couldn’t have it, I felt I was being put in danger of the cancer returning. I should have been given the side effects and problems when I was given the choice of the inplant. My translator did raise this with the Radiotherapist, but was told the surgeon would not have known if I needed Radiotherapy or not when he discovered the initial operation. He would only have known that I may need Radiotherapy after surgery. Surely I should not have been given the choice of the implant in the first place. I hope this helps someone to make a more informed decision should the situation arise.
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