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 Hodgkin lymphoma do I have?
  
  
• How many patients do you see with Hodgkin lymphoma every year?
  
  
• Can you explain my pathology report (laboratory test results) to me?
  
  
• Has my biopsy been reviewed by a pathologist who is an expert in lymphoma?
  
  
• What is the stage of my Hodgkin lymphoma? What is the subtype?
  
  
• What good and poor prognostic factors do I have?
  
  
• What treatment options do I have?
  
  
• What clinical trials are open to me?
  
  
• What treatment plan do you recommend? Why?
  
  
• What chemotherapy treatment do you recommend, how many treatments, and why?
  
  
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of chemotherapy alone versus chemotherapy plus radiation treatment?
  
  
• What, if any, radiation treatment do you recommend, and why?
  
  
• What are the possible side effects of treatment, both in the short term and the long term?
  
  
• Should I get a second opinion?
  
  
• How will this treatment affect my daily life? Will I be able to work, exercise, and perform my usual activities?
  
  
• How can I stay as healthy as possible during treatment?
  
  
• How will treatment affect my ability to have children in the future? Should I bank sperm (males) or take birth control pills (females)?
  
  
• What follow-up tests will I need, and how often will I need them?
  
  
• What support services are available to me? To my family?