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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffYou're likely to start by first seeing your child's primary care doctor or a general practitioner. Eventually, your doctor may direct you to other specialists, such as an ear, nose and throat specialist, heart specialist, dietitian, and physical, occupational and speech therapists.
Because appointments can be brief and there's often a lot of ground to cover, it's a good idea to be well prepared for your appointment. Here's some information to help you get ready, and what to expect from your doctor.
What you can do
- Make list of any signs or symptoms you're noticing in your child, including any that may seem unrelated to Hunter syndrome.
- Write down key personal information, including any personal or family history of a genetic disorder.
- Take a family member or friend along, if possible. Sometimes it can be difficult to soak up all the information provided to you during an appointment. Someone who accompanies you may remember something that you missed or forgot.
- Write down 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. Some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- What is likely causing my child's symptoms?
- What are other possible causes for my child's symptoms?
- What kinds of tests will my child need?
- What's the prognosis for my child's condition?
- What's the next step in diagnosis or treatment?
- Are there alternatives to the primary approach that you're suggesting?
- How can I make my child more comfortable?
- How can I manage feeding, sleeping and behavioral issues?
- What about routine well-child care? Should we proceed with routine childhood immunizations? Should my child get flu shots?
- Will we need to see different specialists? What will that cost, and will my insurance cover seeing a specialist? (You may need to ask your insurance provider directly about coverage concerns.)
- Are there any medications that can help relieve my child's symptoms?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? What Web sites do you recommend visiting? Are there local resources available for me and my child?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something. Don't hesitate to take notes. At the end of your appointment, you may wish to summarize the information you've received with your doctor to make sure you understand it.
What to expect from your doctor
Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions. Being ready to answer them may reserve time to go over any points you want to spend more time on. Your doctor may ask:
- When did your child first begin experiencing symptoms?
- Have your child's symptoms been continuous, or occasional?
- How severe are your child's symptoms?
- What, if anything, seems to improve your child's symptoms?
- What, if anything, appears to worsen your child's symptoms?
- Do you have a personal or family history of a genetic disorder?
