GP & Specialist Appointments Help Sheet

Help Sheet – Attending GP & Specialists ‘Appointments

When you have an appointment, be it with your GP or Specialist it is always useful to consider what you wish to ask before attending your appointment.

On diagnosis of an acoustic neuroma you may be feeling anxious and even a little frightened so it’s important to be organised so you can get the best out of your appointment. There may be lots of questions you want to ask, so once they pop into your head it will be useful for you to create a list of the questions you wish to ask. It’s easy to forget once you get into your consultation. Keep a diary of the symptoms and take it with you.

You may wish to consider taking someone along with you this can be useful to remember what has been said or perhaps make notes for you to read later.

Do not feel you are wasting time by asking your questions they are important you.

Some questions you may wish to consider are:

• What is an acoustic neuroma, why did it grow and what’s its size?
• What are the pros and cons of the options available to me?
• What would happen if left untreated?
• Why has this particular option been suggested?
• Will my symptoms get worse?
• How long will any treatment take?
• How long will I be in the hospital?
• How long will it be before I return to full health?
• How much time will I need off work?

These are just suggestions that you may wish to consider and there may be many other questions that are important to you to ask.

Do not be afraid to ask your questions and be sure you fully understand the answers. If you do not understand say you don’t. If you have gained information from the Internet take this with you to discuss.

Post-surgery/radiotherapy you again may wish to consider what you want to ask the following may be useful to consider:
Was the treatment successful?

• Was the tumour completely removed?
• Will any side effects to temporary or permanent?
• Do I need physio or any therapist? How do I access these?
• Will I be continued to be monitored and how often?

Remember there is never a stupid question, it’s just a question that is important to you.