Meeting my oncologist

Hi Jo,

Macmillan cancer booklet has a list of questions that you can ask the oncologist.

Question for now would be what Dose you are having- low, standard or high

If in doubt (and head in a spin) stick to the standard questions around who, why, what, where, how and when

Who - a few questions about your oncologist. Who is he or she, how long have they been doing what they do, do they like their job, what sort of a person are they (not always easy to find out but my impression is that oncologists are more people-people than surgeons and socially a bit less awkward)

Why - why will they be giving you RAI

What - what will they be giving you? Don't stress too much on the dose - just try to find out if you'll have to go off your drugs or if they'll get thyrogen injections for you. How and where will you get those injections done and do they want you to do the low iodine diet. 

Where - which hospital will you be zapped at. What's the RAI room like, what can you take with you and how long will you be in. Do they have TV and a phone and do you need to pay for them? Can you take your own food and snacks. How long is the waiting list likely to be for getting a treatment slot?

How: ask the doc to describe what happens when you get the treatment and what you should expect them to do. This way you should have fewer surprises on the day.

When - this is quite important because you may need to arrange time off work, to get your cats fed or your kids looked after, find an alternative place to stay if you are not able to be at home. You also need to consider whether you can fit things around existing commitments - for example if you're offered a date and you have booked a holiday during the two weeks beforehand, you may well struggle to do your low iodine diet. Is there any flexibility around the dates? If they won't give you thyrogen injections, you may need to take time off work or work from home in the two weeks before treatment (I would not have been safe to drive during that time). 

Get a notebook and scribble down all your questions, and then prioritise them in case your onc doesn't give you a long enough appointment to cover them all. Ask if you can speak to a nurse or nuclear medic to cover off any questions that aren't covered in your appointment. 

Oh, and if you can, take a friend or partner along just in case that head spin kicks in again. 

Good luck