Some comments made by Cancer Patients who took part in a DACC questionnaire in 2005

Off the 100 respondents, 6 did not avail of all treatments offered.

A man being treated for laryngeal carcinoma stated that he could not avail of all treatments because:

“ I was too ill after the first 3 weeks of treatment”

A man with lung cancer after being operated on in Dublin, refused radiation treatment because he states:

“ It’s too long a journey for someone so ill. I was sent home straight away after surgery, I had to travel by car - no ambulance offered. It  (radiation) was offered but refused.

One woman states:

“ I was only able to avail of one treatment of radiation due to sickness”

2 women ‘opted’ for mastectomies instead of lumpectomy with radiotherapy.

One woman states:

“ As a lone parent it was impossible for me to avail of radiotherapy, which would have meant leaving my children for 5 days at a time, traveling to Dublin. Because of this I opted for a mastectomy, having no choice”

The second woman states:

“ The surgeon offered choice of lumpectomy or mastectomy. If I had opted for lumpectomy, I would have had to go to Dublin for radiation treatment, so I opted for mastectomy. I have 2 disabled sons and could not afford to be away from home. Another son died 6 months before this”.

One woman who attended Letterkenny for chemotherapy identifies financial and transportation worries, she states:

“ I am a lone parent who had to give up my part time job which left me out of pocket every time I go to hospital for tests and appointments.Also getting childcare for all these visits requires a lot of organising travel as I have no car, bus is okay into treatment, but not to go home, when you don’t feel so well.  I need money to travel, eat, pay for childcare and I have to rely on the kindness of friends”