Comprehensive cancer care provides guidance for patients
Dr. Natalie Luehmann, fellowship trained breast surgeon with Aurora BayCare General & Vascular Surgery treats a myriad of patients including those with breast cancer, those with benign disease and those who are at high risk for breast cancer.
The comprehensive care she and her colleagues provide was the topic of a recent Facebook LIVE discussion.
“When patients are first diagnosed with breast cancer, I’m often times the first or second doctor that they see after the radiologist,” she says. “We try to lead the discussion in terms of surgery, but their treatment is going to be multi-faceted, so I’ll try to give them an overview of what to expect going forward.”
Even before patients come to the clinic, there is a significant amount of communication and teamwork happening behind the scenes to make sure each individual patient is receiving the best possible care, Luehmann says.
“Comprehensive cancer care, to me, means the entire treatment team that is taking care of that person,” she adds. “We have conversations with maybe plastic surgery, medical oncology and our nurse navigator about the patient coming in and what our initial plans are.”
Radiology as well as primary care doctors are also sometimes involved, she says.
Luehmann earned her medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. She completed a residency in general surgery at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, and received fellowship training in breast surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital – Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago.
In the video, Dr. Luehmann goes into depth about what comprehensive breast cancer care means for the patient experience and provides more insight into what patients can expect after a breast cancer diagnoses.