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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffYou're likely to start by first seeing your family doctor or a general practitioner. If your doctor suspects you may have a brain tumor, such as a meningioma, you may be referred to a specialist who treats brain disorders (neurologist).
Because appointments can be brief, and because there's often a lot of ground to cover, it's a good idea to be well prepared for your appointment.
What you can do
- Be aware of any pre-appointment restrictions. At the time you make the appointment, be sure to ask if there's anything you need to do in advance, such as restrict your diet.
- Write down any symptoms you're experiencing, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for which you scheduled the appointment.
- Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
- Make a list of all medications, as well as any vitamins or supplements, that you're taking.
- Take a family member or friend along, if possible. Sometimes it can be difficult to absorb all the information provided during an appointment. Someone who accompanies you may remember something that you missed or forgot.
- Write down questions to ask your doctor.
Your time with your doctor is limited, so preparing a list of questions will help you make the most of your time together. List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out. For a meningioma, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- Is my meningioma cancerous?
- How large is my meningioma?
- Is my meningioma growing? How quickly?
- What treatments do you recommend?
- What are the potential complications of each treatment?
- Are there long-term complications I should know about?
- Should I seek a second opinion? Can you recommend another doctor or hospital that has experience in treating meningiomas?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take with me? What Web sites do you recommend?
- Do I need to make a decision about treatment right away? How long can I wait?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something.
- Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:1109.
- Marosi C, et al. Meningioma. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology. 2008;67:153.
- Asthagiri AR, et al. Current concepts in management of meningiomas and schwannomas. Neurologic Clinics. 2007;25:1209.
- Meningioma. Cancer.Net. http://www.cancer.net/patient/Cancer+Types/Meningioma. Accessed Jan. 6, 2009.
- Armstrong TS, et al. Use of complementary and alternative medical therapy by patients with primary brain tumors. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. 2008;8:264.
