It was an honor to attend the American Society of Breast Surgeons meeting as a patient advocate. I felt welcome from the moment I arrived. The first breast surgeon I met was a past president of ASBrS, Dr. Deanna Attai. I have been interacting with Dr. Attai on Social Media through #bcsm tweet chats but never had the opportunity to meet her in person. We sat in the lobby of the hotel to share a cup of coffee. The first question she asked me was, “Terri, why did you attend the meeting?” I smiled at her because it was the question I wanted to be asked as a patient advocate attending ASBrS.
I folded my arms on the table, leaned in as I smiled at Dr. Attai, and answered her question with a question, “Guess who told me about all my options for breast reconstruction?”
The smile on her face told me she knew the answer. Yes, it was my own breast surgeon. I feel breast surgeons are one of the front lines of educating patients about what next steps are after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Oncoplastic Breast Surgery at ASBrS
Soon after, I received a text from Dr. Patricia Clark announcing she had arrived for the conference. She joined us for a cup of coffee as we chatted. I was fortunate to coordinate a time to sit down with Dr. Clark to interview her for some videos. She asked me the same question Dr. Attai asked about why I attended the meeting.
Why the photos, or as they are called on social media, “selfies”? They are fun memories but more importantly they do actually serve a purpose. As a patient advocate, we are the messengers of the information we gather at conferences and events for our community. These photos are taken with leaders in the field of breast surgery. They serve as a reminder to me of who I have spoken to. I connect with physicians I can refer patients to. When I have questions about studies, surgical techniques, and practices and protocols, these physicians are my resource for answers.
Sharing Important Information from ASBrS
The connections made begin a continuum of information from surgeon to patient advocate to the communities of patients we all serve. A perfect example is a recent survey Dr. Attai has been working on. Through our contact and mutual interests in the breast cancer community, I am able to share this important survey to the over 3,000 members on my Facebook page. I feel honored to have these connections. This survey will help breast surgeons improve patient treatment by hearing their voices and gathering information from the survey.
Responsibility of a Patient Advocate
This is a small part of the responsibility of a patient advocate I discuss in the video I made with Dr. Clark. I see my role as one who attends conferences to listen, ask questions, understand what surgeons deal with, and in turn share the difficult decisions and processes patients go through when facing breast cancer.
Dr. Clark points out in the video you can view in this blog that patients are receiving so much information these days not only from their physicians, but also from various social media platforms. Not all the information is accurate. The role of a responsible patient advocate lies in sifting through this information to share it accurately with their online communities. Attending conferences has given me this opportunity.
As Dr. Clark points out, surgical quality, de-escalation of treatment, improvements in techniques optimizing patient outcomes, and best practices in oncoplastic surgery for breast cancer patients were some of the many topics covered at ASBrS. By being a part of the audience as a patient advocate, I was fortunate to listen, learn, and discuss these presentations with many of the breast surgeons in attendance.
Optimism for Continued Patient Advocacy
It is my hope more patient advocates can become a part of medical conferences. I see the development of robust patient advocate programs and the importance of our responsible voices being utilized at other conferences. I feel optimistic more entities and specialties will welcome us with open arms, reduce our fees for attendance, explain further in breakout sessions with advocates the difficult topics presented, and most importantly, inviting us to the table to collaborate on what we can all do to improve the patient/physician experience.
Thanks Terri for all the great work you do!!
You are a gem! 🙏❤️
Thank you very kindly Karen. It is an honor to be part of a collaborative effort with surgeons to discuss what the latest studies are in breast surgery. It was a warm welcome from the breast surgery community and I felt there was great interest in our patient experiences. ~ Terri