Questions to Ask the Doctor

Regular communication with your child’s doctor is important in making informed decisions about his or her health care. Consider asking the following questions of your child’s doctor:

• What type of tumor does my child have?
  
  
• Are other tests or surgery needed to confirm this diagnosis?
  
  
• Can you explain my child’s pathology report (laboratory test results) to me?
  
  
• What is your familiarity with craniopharyngioma and its treatment?
  
  
• How many CNS tumors do you treat each year?
  
  
• Do you attend meetings to discuss complicated tumor cases and possible new treatments for these tumors? What types of specialists attend such meetings?
  
  
• Will an experienced neuropathologist (a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis of diseases of the nervous system by studying tissue under a microscope) review my child’s pathology slides?
  
  
• What are the treatment options?
  
  
• What clinical trials are open to my child?
  
  
• What treatment do you recommend? Why?
  
  
• What are the possible side effects of this treatment, both in the short term and the long term?
  
  
• How will this treatment affect my child’s daily life? Will he or she be able to go to school and perform his or her usual activities?
  
  
• Should I get a second opinion on this treatment plan?
  
  
• Are there pediatric treatment centers that you recommend?
  
  
• What are the chances for success with the planned treatment?
  
  
• Does your practice include multidisciplinary care?
  
  
• Do you work with a social worker that assists patients with CNS tumors?
  
  
• Do you know of a local support group for patients with CNS tumors?
  
  
• Do you have reading material that would help me understand my child’s disease?
  
  
• Who answers questions when you are unavailable?
  
  
• What follow-up tests will my child need, and how often will he or she need them?
  
  
• What support services are available to my child? To my family?