Oncology first meeting

Hiya - I couldn't wait to meet oncology for the first time (Dec 21).  My urology consultant advised me I would be on a tablet and "it's a bit like chemo" he said.  But meeting onco was nothing like that.  It was an hour and a half of my own personal training in kidney cancer types, treatment and options for the way forwards.  We discussed the pros & cons of about 5 options, including a trial.  I took home all the drug info sheets and made a decision the next day.  Only one of the options involved a tablet.  Most are infusions.  They tell you about all the side effects and it sounds awful.  But no one gets all the side effects.  

There's the practicalities of where you can get the treatment if it's an infusion.  For example if I'd have gone for the trial then it had to be in my onco unit which is further away than my local day unit.  Car parking and driving in the snow was a consideration.  Sounds OK now, but what about after a year, in Jan etc.  

You might want to ask about options after the first treatment.  Due to licences, some treatments are not available after a specific treatment  commences.  Two years is a critical point in immunotherapy so you might want to ask what the likely options are after that.  Frequency of scans is another thing to ask, and how regular the blood test will be and what day suits you best.  For example, if you need bloods 2 days before a monthly treatment think about whether it's convenient for treatment day to be Mon or Tues.  Do you want to be going to your local hospital for bloods at the weekend when your GP is likely not open?

You might want to ask about the success rates for treatment options and why the onco recommends blah for your cancer.  Oh and you want to ask what kidney cancer type you have.  RCC is the most common.  

Errr this isn't for everyone, but I googled in advance and went in with a list of drugs I'd read positive things about in the press.  "I want to go on A, B, C or D" I said!!!  It was just great to be treated like an adult again.  

It would also be very helpfull and comforting, especially for you, to go with someone. There will be a lot of information and you may not remember it all. Having someone with you will help with that. It can also be a bit overwhelming on your 1st oncol appointment.

Thank you for your reply very much appreciated today I received another appointment for the 17th May with a different oncologist so now waiting to hear back from hospital regarding which appointment I need to attend hopefully the earlier one