Questions to Ask the Doctor

Regular communication with your doctor is important in making informed decisions about your health care. Consider asking the following questions of your doctor:

• What type of appendix cancer do I have?
  
  
• Can you explain my pathology report (laboratory test results) to me?
  
  
• Is the cancer considered to be localized, regional, or advanced? What does this mean?
  
  
• How often do you treat people with appendix cancer?
  
  
• What are my treatment options?
  
  
• What clinical trials are open to me?
  
  
• What treatment plan do you recommend? Why?
  
  
• What is the goal of each treatment?
  
  
• What is my prognosis?
  
  
• Can surgery be done to remove all of the cancer?
  
  
• Can surgery be done to debulk the cancer? How will this help me?
  
  
• How experienced is the surgeon with this type of operation?
  
  
• Do you recommend chemotherapy after surgery?
  
  
• What are the possible side effects of this treatment, both in the short term and the long term?
  
  
• How will this treatment affect my daily life? Will I be able to work, exercise, and perform my usual activities?
  
  
• If I’m worried about managing the costs related to my cancer care, who can help me with these concerns?
  
  
• What follow-up tests will I need, and how often will I need them?
  
  
• What support services are available to me? To my family?