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:

General questions:

• What is my diagnosis?
  
  
• What type of tumor is it? Is it cancerous?
  
  
• Can you explain my pathology report to me?
  
  
• How often do you treat people with this type of tumor?
  
  
• If benign, will it turn malignant?
  
  
• Do I need treatment right away?
  
  
• What are my treatment options?
  
  
• What clinical trials are open to me?
  
  
• What treatment do you recommend? Why?
  
  
• Should I get a second opinion?
  
  
• What is the goal of this treatment?
  
  
• 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?
  
  
• What is my prognosis?
  
  
• What are the advantages of combining surgery and chemotherapy and radiation therapy?
  
  
• What cosmetic issues will I face with treatment?
  
  
• Will I need to see a plastic surgeon?
  
  
• Will I need to see an ocularist (a person who makes prosthetic eyes) or an anaplastologist (a person who works with the surgery team to reconstruct the face)
  
  
• What follow-up tests will I need, and how often will I need them?

For people who need surgery:

• What side effects are possible from this type of surgery?
  
  
• Can you recommend an experienced surgeon?
  
  
• Will I need to stay in the hospital for this surgery? For how long?
  
  
• How will you and I be able to tell if the entire tumor was removed during surgery?
  
  
• Will I have problems with my vision afterwards? For how long?

For patients who need to have an eye removed:

• How do I adjust to using one eye?
  
  
• How long will it take me to recover?
  
  
• How soon can I get a prosthesis (artificial eye)?
  
  
• When do I get a permanent prosthesis?
  
  
• How do I care for my prosthesis?

For people who need radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or immunotherapy:

• What kind of therapy will I receive?
  
  
• What does the preparation for this treatment involve?
  
  
• What is the risk to my vision with this treatment?
  
  
• What other short-term and long-term side effects can I expect from this treatment?
  
  
• How can you help relieve these side effects?

After treatment:

• What are the chances the cancer will return?
  
  
• What follow-up tests do I need, and how often do I need them?
  
  
• How closely will I need to be monitored?
  
  
• What support services are available to me? To my family?