Working with your doctors

Assemble a winning team of cancer experts.

You’ve probably been visiting doctors your entire life and have depended on their expertise to treat your injuries, diagnose your illnesses, and help keep you healthy. With a diagnosis of cancer, your relationships with your doctors — both those you’ve known for years and those you meet for the first time — are likely to become even more important to you.

The first step is finding a cancer specialist, or oncologist. You may begin by meeting with one whom your primary doctor suggests or with one recommended by a friend or family member.

The oncologist you ultimately choose will help you assemble the right team of specialists for the type of cancer you have.

Your caregiving team

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the number and variety of doctors who are involved in your care.

But there’s a good reason so many experts are required. Cancer treatments are most effective when provided by experienced specialists with particular areas of expertise. Here’s an overview of the types of cancer specialists you may be working with, separately or as part of a team:

Oncologists are physicians who study, diagnose, and treat cancer. Each oncologist trains initially as a specialist in a particular area, such as surgery or gynecology, and then narrows his or her focus to cancers within that specialty. So, for example, a medical oncologist is an internist who treats cancer of the internal organs with chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and other medications, and a hematologic oncologist is an oncologist who treats cancers of the blood. Other specialties include gynecological, surgical, radiation, and pediatric oncology.

Naturopathic physicians prescribe natural therapies to slow tumor growth, strengthen the immune system through nutrition, and enhance conventional treatments.

My medical records

If your oncologist isn’t part of a practice that includes your other specialists, you may end up seeing several doctors in different offices over the course of your diagnosis and treatment. Having to wait for a doctor to receive a copy of your medical records before a consultation can delay the momentum and create frustration. Ask your doctors and nurses for copies of your chart and all of your test results, and take the file with you to each of your appointments. Keeping track of your medical records makes it easier to see other doctors for additional opinions.

Building a relationship

It’s important to develop a comfortable relationship with your doctors, oncology nurses, and other specialists. It takes time and effort on both ends — just as building any relationship does — and requires a foundation of mutual respect. There are many things you can do to strengthen the relationship:

Be open and straightforward when talking with your doctors and nurses.
Describe your symptoms thoroughly, using your own words.
Be honest about your lifestyle, diet, and habits. For example, if you smoke, let them know. Without complete information they can’t treat you effectively.
Describe the research you’re doing about cancer treatments and ask any questions you have about other therapies.
Be clear about the role you want to play in making informed decisions about your treatment and care.
Express your concerns and fears frankly. Tell your doctors if you want more specific information about how a treatment is working or what your prognosis is.

Changing course

Your relationship with oncologists has several phases, including diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare. You may work with the same doctors throughout or select a new team at some point. For example, if a second opinion differs from the original diagnosis and treatment approach, you’ll have to decide which doctor’s views you’re more comfortable with — or seek a third perspective. Or, you may be completely confident with an oncologist’s diagnosis but prefer to be treated at a different hospital than the one where that oncologist is on the staff.

It’s also worth switching oncologists if you don’t seem to click. People have different personalities and communication styles. Maybe your doctor doesn’t provide the encouragement you’re seeking, for example, or perhaps his or her treatment philosophy is to watch and wait while you’d rather take action, or the other way around. There’s nothing wrong with seeking a more compatible bond.