Questions to ask your doctor
Our experience has shown that posting a written list of your questions to the specialist prior to your appointment ensures you will get answers on the day.
It is most desirable to have someone with you to take notes of any relevant details.
If a patient has some knowledge it is very much to his advantage and enables him to participate in the important decisions, on diagnosis as well as the various treatment options.
Any man who has been told he has prostate cancer knows the feeling of shock that this diagnosis engenders. At first, this news will be all the patient can handle. But on a later visit, it is important to get further information from the diagnosing physician. The questions listed below will help the patient get a better understanding of his condition, and give him a foundation for preparing to deal with his prostate cancer.
- How do you know I have prostate cancer?
- Are there further tests I should have to determine the stage and nature of the cancer before I decide on a course of treatment? What will these tests tell us?
- What stage of prostate cancer do I have? How certain are you that my cancer is this stage?
- What are the alternative treatments for my stage of prostate cancer?
- Are there any treatment alternatives other than those you have mentioned?
- What are the risks involved in each of the various treatments?
- What would be the likely consequence of receiving no treatment?
- Will these treatments require hospitalization, or can they be performed on an out-patient basis?
- What treatment do you recommend for me, and why?
- How many times have you performed this treatment in the last year?
- With the treatment you recommend, what is the rate and degree of impotence and incontinence among your patients?
- Does the site of the tumor in my prostate increase the risk of impotence or incontinence from the treatment you recommend?
- Is computerized planning sometimes involved in this treatment? If not, why not?
- How will I feel during and after treatment?
- When will I be able to return to normal, everyday activities?
- When will I be able to resume sexual relations?
- What should I do if I experience impotence problems after treatment? Can you advise me or send me to someone who is an expert in the field?
- What should I do if I experience problems with incontinence after treatment? What can be done to treat incontinence? Is there an expert in the field you can refer me to in such an event?
- Will I need regular check-ups to monitor the cancer and my response to treatment?
- What tests will be required for these check-ups, and what will they tell us?
- Are there particular warning signs for problems I should be aware of relating to a worsening of my condition or that might result from treatment?
- Where should I go to get a second opinion?