subject: Diagnosed With Thyroid Cancer - 5 Tips To Prepare For The Oncologist Visit [print this page] Your family doctor suspects that you may have thyroid cancer because there is a lump on your neck or a swollen lymph node. The practitioner then sets up an appointment for you with and endocrinologist, a specialist in the endocrine system that the thyroid gland is a part. If your doctor has positive cancer results, he would then send you to an oncologist, a doctor that specializes in the treatment of cancer and knows the best treatments for the various types of cancer. Therefore you have to be prepared.
The following are some tips that will help you be ready for their questions:
1.Take the time to write down all the changes you have experienced whether they be physical of mental. Ask family members to help you because sometimes things change slowly and you may not notice or remember. Every detail is important in helping making a proper diagnosis.
2.Find out from your family doctor or general practitioner if there will be any special diagnostic test being done on your first visit. You may have to restrict some medications you are taking or follow some dietary restrictions.
3.Make arrangements to have a family member or a friend attend the appointment with you. They will be more collected and will hear things differently than you.
4.Prepare a list of questions. Never think that a question is silly or unimportant. If it something that you have thought of, ask. The job of the specialist is to inform you the best they can and sometimes simple things may be past over.
5.Last but the most important take a note pad along and take notes. A recording device would be the best. Keep a journal for yourself. Then you can look back at your results and see the progress you have made.
Being prepared will make this experience much easier.
