Cape Breton cancer symposium shifts focus to patient experience

Within an hour of her initial consultation with her oncologist, Stacey Brygidyr Rogers was having her first chemotherapy session.

Her experience in the health-care system will be the focus of a cancer symposium being held in Sydney this month.

The Sydney woman had just been diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago and said she was psychologically unprepared for the swiftness of the decisions made regarding her treatment.

"My husband and I were dressed for work, we were going in for a consultation and I was in chemotherapy an hour later," said Brygidyr Rogers. "When you walk into the cancer centre, you are expecting one thing and, nine times out of 10, you have a completely different experience."

Another time she was in the middle of being prepped for radiation treatment. The procedure was halted because her doctors decided there was a chance that cancer was still present, despite the completion of chemotherapy and full double mastectomy.

Instead of radiation, and finally being on the road to recovery, Brygidyr Rogers was advised to have another surgery to remove lymph nodes.

"That threw a kind of wrench into my mental plan," she said. "The carpet gets ripped out."

Patients to speak at symposium

Previous symposiums focused on treatment breakthroughs, cancer prevention and public policies around issues such as smoking.

"We never had a symposium, ever, where we completely focused on the patient's experience." said oncologist Dr. Ron MacCormick, one of the event's organizers.

"It's a bit scary because a patient goes through something, she gets her take on everything and then we have to go and reflect on how we helped her through this, or didn't help her through it."

Brygidyr Rogers and the various doctors who treated her will explain each step including the surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

"The experts will give the clinical perspective on finding the lump and the pathology, diagnosis and that kind of thing," she said. "I will give the layman's terms and the real perspective from a patient point of view."

The event will be held at the Highland Arts Theatre on Sept. 28. It is open to the public at a cost of $30.

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