The percentage of breast cancer patients who receive their first treatment on time has decreased in the past year in several regions. Region Skåne was the worst in the country last year, when only one in four patients received help in time. There, the proportion has also fallen in the last four years. – You are completely powerless, you can do nothing but sit and wait, says Luisa Hansson. According to the Standardized Course of Care, the process that must be started when a well-founded suspicion of breast cancer arises, the first treatment must be started within 28 days. This is the so-called lead time. Luisa Hansson in Lund was suspected of having breast cancer on May 18 last year. According to the Standardized course of care, she should have started her first treatment no later than June 14. Instead, she got the diagnosis herself on June 23. The operation was to take place on August 11. It would thus take almost three months before Luisa Hansson’s first treatment. “Completely powerless” – Mentally, it is very stressful to wait for your operation for so long. And you’re completely powerless, you can’t do anything but sit and wait, says Luisa Hansson. Anna-Karin Falck, regional cancer coordinator in Region Skåne, believes that cases like Luisa Hansson’s are unusual and that the reasons why lead times are exceeded can be individual. – Often there are not very many days in addition to the 28 days. But it is in connection with 28 days in the vast majority of cases, says Anna-Karin Falck. Seeking help in other regions Instead of waiting for her operation, Luisa Hansson contacted hospitals in other regions in the hope of being operated on more quickly. – I thought it was quite crazy. It cannot be reasonable plus that it required quite a lot of mental strength and persistence to chase surgery times, says Luisa Hansson Finally, she got an appointment in another region and was operated on July 18, earlier than the operation in Skåne but still a month over the lead time. Hear about Luisa’s battle with cancer in the player above
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