Need Advice n!!!

[Joe]

I have been approached by a Certified Oncology Nurse who is interested in offering her advice to members.

As this is a delicate issue (liability) we will not disclose her name .

Also as with our other boards, any medical information that you receive on this website should be confirmed with your medical team before implementing.

Is there an interest in this new board?

Regards
Joe

[ElaineM]

Joe,
If she can write short educational articles about the various kinds of breast cancer drugs and treatments (general patient education regarding side effects and other information) that might be good, but otherwise I think we have everything covered. Please tell her thanks for her kind offer.

[BonnieR]

I think she would be a wonderful resource and was very generous to make this offer. It would be so helpful to get answers from an actual qualified professional working in the field. I understand that you and she might have liability issues though.

[AlaskaAngel]

I do think adding the professional nutritionist was quite helpful. Would you create a separate forum for her?

A.A.

[Hopeful]

Joe, you used to talk about adding a health professional that could put a lot of the technical abstracts we read into plain language. Would she be able to do that? If so, I think it would be a good addition. Also, I still see a lot of members posting for advice in handling treatment side effects. Perhaps she could be helpful there.

Hopeful

[Joe]

Alaska Angel - YES
Hopeful - We do have an oncologist who covers the major meetings. I posted her San Antonio report several weeks ago.

Regards
Joe

[Hopeful]

Joe,

I am thinking more along the lines of when one of us finds a technical article and posts it, there is someone here on staff to help interpret it.

Hopeful

[Barbara2]

I think it would be nice to have her assist us with questions, interpretations of medical articles, and more... anything that she could offer and be authorized to do so, would be wonderful. The hard part would be for her to know what she could and could not address.

[Nancy L]

I personally have been in many well known and highly raded treatment facilities and have not found general oncology nurses to know much about the different types of breast cancer, how treatment differs for the different types, what is new, etc. They do know methods to deal with various side effects. If we had this offer from an oncology nurse who has only worked with breast cancer patients (better yet a breast cancer PA at a major breast cancer treatment center), it might be more useful for some visiting this site.

It is a generous offer. Any information on why she is making this offer?

[Joe]

I do know that she has over 20 years of experience at a practice that treats all cancers, but I think all she does is work with the bc patients.

She is very experienced,

Regards
Joe

[AlaskaAngel]

Thanks, Joe. I think it could provide a somewhat unique opportunity to open up lines of communication in both directions, and provide some good discussion. There are a number of medical people on the forum here who are busy dealing with bc themselves and who don't pretend to know all there is to know.

AlaskaAngel

[Bill]

In my opinion, I think this is a good thing. Her input can be very valuable to the site as long as she is capable of saying, "I don't know, but I will check and get back to you". Her experience will be a strong addition to the site.

[Rich66]

I'm suspecting oncology nurses are more tuned into the side effect issues so they could be a great resource in that area. Conversely, I bet a nurse could benefit from seeing what patients come up with and come across. The ever-expanding/oft unspoken strategies to deal with hand foot syndrome come to mind.
If well connected, or even simply through having a med credential, an an onco-nurse could be a valuable liaison into hierarchies most can't access.

[ElaineM]

She might be able to interpret scientific articles about breast cancer.

[Jackie07]

An experienced nurse is quite often more knowledgeable than a well-trained doctor - especially in the hands-on, clinical settings. She/he also can be a great 'gateway' - pointing the patients to the right direction... How wonderful! I'm looking forward to meeting another expert on this Forum.

[u2me2]

I think it is wonderful that all the latest research articles are posted but most of the time I don't understand what the finding are. Someone to post the findings in plain English would be fantastic!!!

[tricia keegan]

I also think this would be a great resource here for many:)