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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staff
Consulting with your health care team
Women with breast cancer may have appointments with their primary care doctors, as well as several other doctors and other health professionals, including:
- Breast surgeons
- Doctors who specialize in diagnostic tests, such as mammograms (radiologists)
- Doctors who specialize in treating cancer (oncologists)
- Doctors who treat cancer with radiation (radiation oncologists)
- Genetic counselors
- Plastic surgeons
What you can do to prepare
- Write down any symptoms you're experiencing, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for which you scheduled the appointment.
- Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
- Write down your family history of cancer. Note any family members who have had cancer, including how each member is related to you, the type of cancer, the age at diagnosis and whether each person survived.
- Make a list of all medications, as well as any vitamins or supplements, that you're taking.
- Keep all of your records that relate to your cancer diagnosis and treatment. Organize your records in a binder or folder that you can take to your appointments.
- Consider taking a family member or friend along. Sometimes it can be difficult to absorb all the information provided during an appointment. Someone who accompanies you may remember something that you missed or forgot.
- Write down questions to ask your doctor.
Questions to ask your doctor
Your time with your doctor is limited, so preparing a list of questions will help you make the most of your time together. List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out. For breast cancer, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- What type of breast cancer do I have?
- What is the stage of my cancer?
- Can you explain my pathology report to me? Can I have a copy for my records?
- Do I need any more tests?
- What treatment options are available for me?
- What are the benefits from each treatment you recommend?
- What are the side effects of each treatment option?
- Will treatment cause menopause?
- How will each treatment affect my daily life? Can I continue working?
- Is there one treatment you recommend over the others?
- How do you know that these treatments will benefit me?
- What would you recommend to a friend or family member in my situation?
- How quickly do I need to make a decision about cancer treatment?
- What happens if I don't want cancer treatment?
- What will cancer treatment cost?
- Does my insurance plan cover the tests and treatment you're recommending?
- Should I seek a second opinion? Will my insurance cover it?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take with me? What websites or books do you recommend?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask additional questions that may occur to you during your appointment.
References
- Breast cancer. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003090-pdf.pdf. Accessed March 17, 2011.
- What you need to know about breast cancer. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/breast/AllPages/Print. Accessed March 19, 2011.
- Chlewbowski RT, et al. Estrogen plus progestin and breast cancer incidence and mortality in postmenopausal women. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2010;304:1684.
- Giuliano AE, et al. Axillary dissection vs. no axillary dissection in women with invasive breast cancer and sentinel node metastasis. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2011;305:569.
- Van Wely BJ, et al. Systematic review of the effect of external beam radiation therapy to the breast on axillary recurrence after negative sentinel lymph node biopsy. British Journal of Surgery. 2011;98:326.
- Robert NJ, et al. RIBBON-1: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III trial of chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab for first-line treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative, locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology. In Press. Accessed March 22, 2011.
- Burstein HJ. Bevacizumab for advanced breast cancer: All tied up with a RIBBON? Journal of Clinical Oncology. In Press. Accessed March 22, 2011.
- Choueiri TK, et al. Congestive heart failure risk in patients with breast cancer treated with bevacizumab. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2011;29:632.
- Petrelli F, et al. Bevacizumab in advanced breast cancer: An opportunity as second-line therapy? Medical Oncology. In Press. Accessed March 22, 2011.
- Gnant M, et al. Endocrine therapy plus zoledronic acid in premenopausal breast cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2009;360:679.
- Coleman R, et al. Zoledronic acid use in cancer patients. Cancer. 2011;117:11.
- Pruthi S (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 22, 2011.
- Unexpected AZURE results lead to rethink for Zometa. Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy. 2011;11:329.
- Moynihan TJ (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 3, 2011.
- FDA commissioner removes breast cancer indication from Avastin label. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/ucm279485.htm. Accessed Nov. 18, 2011.
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