What questions should I be asking my medical team?

You likely have many questions for your healthcare team. It is important to keep an ongoing list of your questions between appointments. Be sure to take your list of questions with you and keep asking until you get an answer you understand. Don’t be afraid to ask why your doctor is running a test, scheduling a procedure, or changing a medication. Here are a few questions to consider:

About your disease:

• What subtype of my disease do I have?
• How severe is my disease?
• What is my prognosis?
• What have other people with a similar disease and treatment gone through?

About treatment:

• What are all my treatment options?
• What treatment option do you recommend for me? Why?
• Will I be getting more than one treatment?
• How does this treatment work?
• How likely am I to get better with the treatment?
• How often is this treatment given?
• Has this treatment been used a lot or is it a new or experimental treatment?
• When can I expect the treatment to start working? When/how will I know if it is working?
• What are some of the possible side effects I should be aware of? Are there long-term side effects?