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Welcome to North York General Hospital's Breast Diagnostic Centre.
We're located on the first floor just behind registration for Day Surgery.
Here the Diagnostic Centre you'll meet with a team of healthcare professionals
including a surgeon, radiologist and the technicians as well as a coordinator
who'll help to get you an early diagnosis.
You go through this door and immediately your stress level
begins to reduce because you were welcomed by someone who so obviously
is interested in caring for you that it's almost like getting a hug.
The first thing you are going to do when you come to the Breast Diagnostic Centre
is you're going to come in and register here at the desk. You might be given some
forms to fill out in which (case) you'll go to the waiting area to fill out.
If you need any help with anything, there are volunteers. If you're having procedure
done those same volunteers will help you get ready for any procedures that are
being done
and if you're here to see the surgeon you might just be asked to wait in the
waiting area.
When I came to the clinic the first day
I brought with me the reports from my previous mammograms.
But here, at this particular centre, they make sure that all of the information is
correct.
In my case we were going to review the files that had been sent down
and I was going to have another mammogram,
I was going to have ultrasound and then again meet with the team
and find out what next steps would be.
If you're coming to the Breast Diagnostic Centre for a mammogram or any imaging,
ultrasound or biopsy, you'll be asked to change into a gown
and one of our volunteers will help you to do so.
This is the mammogram and biopsy room in the Breast Diagnostic Centre.
A volunteer or a technologist will come to the waiting area bring you in here.
They'll also explain the whole procedure to you before they get started and this is a
great time if you have any questions, to ask before they start your procedure.
If you've never had a mammogram
or not had a mammogram for a year or longer,
you'll be coming to have a mammogram first.
What we'll do is we'll start off with a bilateral mammogram
which means both of your *** will be X-rayed. We do 4 pictures in total,
2 on each breast. The squeezing is the most uncomfortable part of the test
but it's also the most important part of the test. If you just follow the
instructions and relax you'll be perfectly fine.
Once I've done the 4 pictures, the images get transferred over to the
radiologist who's in the room next door
and then we go to see the radiologist, we review the images
and then they let us know if we need to do any additional mammography imaging.
If we do, we come back and we tell you what extra pictures we're going
to take,
and if not, we have the sit back outside in the waiting room
while the radiologist reports the mammogram pictures
and decides if you need anything else done while you're here.
So here at the clinic they explain to you what mammography is.
They make you very comfortable. The whole time you are in the room
with the nurse and the technician as they are setting up the machine and adjusting
your *** so that they can take good pictures,
they're talking to you, they're explaining what's happening.
And when you know what is about to happen, a lot of the fear dissipates.
So it may be a little uncomfortable but
nothing like one would imagine. And you have the team with you all the time,
helping you manage it.
Hi, I'm one of the radiologist who works here in the Breast Diagnostic Centre who subspecializes in breast imaging.
Sometimes you may need a breast ultrasound examination that is performed
by the technologist
and sometimes the radiologists themselves will come in
to assess as well.
While you're here, we work in close concert with the technologists and the surgeons in order
to ensure
that your work-up is tailored to suit your needs.
We report the cases immediately and provide feedback to the surgeons about the results.
One type a biopsy which you may require is called a mammotome biopsy.
A mammotome biopsy is performed to
assess for an abnormality such as calcifications.
When you have a large area of calcifications sometimes you want a larger sample to
ensure that you're getting the correct diagnosis on biopsy.
We use software in order to triangulate the
location of the abnormality and then we sample
with the aid of that targeting. We confirm that we have the
actual target in the sample with an X-ray of the sample.
Once we're happy, we've been successful, the biopsy is complete.
The biopsy process I was very nervous going into that only because it is
quite intensive and it really
lasted about 5 to 10 seconds on each of the biopsy into the breast that
they completed.
I was a bit sore for the remainder of the day
but nothing that was unbearable. I wasn't on any medication for it.
It was just, I would say,
a mild uncomfort and the next day I was fine.
This is one of the 3 exam rooms in the Breast Diagnostic Centre.
You may be brought in here to meet with your surgeon to discuss any of the tests that
you've had done
or to discuss any future plans for your care.
Based on our examination of the patient
and based on their history, we would have a discussion with the radiologist who is
here at the same time.
We might recommend some extra views or recommend a biopsy and we basically
develop a treatment plan or an investigation plan for that patient
which may include a biopsy or other tests.
And once we have done that then
the surgeon would recommend a specific treatment plan which,
as I've suggested, might include surgery.
At North York General Hospital one of the services we provide for breast
cancer patients is a nurse navigator.
A nurse navigator is your support person throughout your cancer journey.
Once you're diagnosed with breast cancer, your surgeon will send a referral to the
nurse navigator and the nurse navigator will then contact you.
The nurse navigator is the person who coordinates your care.
It's such an amazing service. So in my instance,
I was given the date of my surgery and told who the surgeon was going to be,
I was told about the anesthesiologist, told about
coming back to the hospital to prepare for surgery in a pre-surgery clinic
where I would meet
some of the team so that they could make sure that I would receive the best care
on the day of my surgery.
The nurse navigator also arranges to let you know when your follow-up appointments will be,
gives you information about what to expect re medication, who would be
prescribing it, etcetera. So it
really is an invaluable service. It's like having your own personal assistant
coordinate your life through
your cancer journey.