Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Mesothelioma

When you or a loved one is diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, or any other serious illness, you may feel overwhelmed and unsure.  Often clients can decrease some of this stress by becoming actively involved in their medical care.  By asking questions and learning about your new diagnosis, you may feel  more in control of your treatment options.  Below I have listed ten questions you may find helpful when talking to your medical providers.
I also suggest keeping a notebook or journal for all your medical information.  You can write down the contact information for each of your medical providers, information about tests you have received and the results, medications and side effects, and any symptoms you may be experiencing.  Having all this information in one place will help you and your caregivers when visiting your healthcare provider.  The notebook may also be a place you can write down questions between appointments, so that you remember to ask when you are in the office.

10 Questions You May Want to Ask Your Doctor (when first diagnosed with mesothelioma)
1.  What type of mesothelioma do I have?
2.  What is the stage of my mesothelioma and what does that mean to me?
3.  What are my treatment options?
4.  What treatment options do you recommend and why?
5.  Where will I receive my treatment?
6.  What are the risks of the treatments you suggest?  What are the benefits?
7.  What kind of side effects may I experience from my mesothelioma treatment?  How may they affect my daily life?
8.  What can I do to prepare for mesothelioma treatment?
9.  Should I consider participating in a clinical trial?  Where do I find information about current clinical trials?
10.  What can I expect based on my diagnosis and your experience with mesothelioma?

You may want to add additional questions to this list and to continue to ask questions as your treatment progresses.  Remember that visits to the doctor are often brief and it has helped my clients to be prepared.  You may also find it helpful to bring a loved one or friend with you to your appointments (both for support and to help understand all this new information).