Journal of Hope
Peter Lee has served as a perennial, enthusiastic volunteer at Hope On Wheels (HOW100) since the event’s inception in 2005. Event participants have witnessed Peter’s dedication to the event…
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Tips On Meeting With Your Medical Oncologist Mar 12, 2010
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Learn helpful tips on how to best discuss your cancer diagnosis and course of treatment with your oncologist. In this video, Johanna Bendell, M.D., offers advice on how to prepare for your visit, as well as what questions to ask your oncologist.
Tips On Meeting With Your Medical Oncologist Transcript
The best thing you can do when you see your medical oncologist is to sit and talk to the medical oncologist about all your concerns and get all your questions answered. I always recommend to my patients as well that they bring somebody along with them because often times the first time you meet the medical oncologist, you are often distracted. I also recommend that people bring things to write down what the medical oncologist says, and even bring a list of questions with you. One thing I always encourage my patients to ask about is clinical trials.
Clinical trials are the best way to get the latest treatments for your cancer. Most doctor offices offer clinical trials to patients and it is always good to sit down with your doctor to discuss which options are available and what the clinical trial consists of. Once thing that I always encourage my patients to realize is that cancer not only involves treatment of the cancer itself but treatment of them as the patient. There are multiple aspects to this that include social support and nutritional support.
These are very important components of treating your cancer because the better nutrition you have and the better support system, the better you will do in fighting your cancer. At the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, there are social workers and nutritionists to help you get through your cancer. To be able to ask frank questions – “what do I do about my job? How do I tell my kids that I have cancer? How do I tell my family and friends and how do I help them support me through this process?”
There is also counseling available for your family members and friends if you need it. It is very scary to be diagnosed with cancer, but we want you to know that there are so many support systems out there – your doctors office, the nurses, the research staff but also through the Minnie Pearl through social workers and nutritionists.