Tips for talking to your team about new treatments?

buttonsmachine

Hi All,

I'm interested to know how you broach the subject of new treatments with your doctors? To put it simply: how do you ask about new drugs, clinical trials, etc.?

Maybe I feel intimidated. They know more about BC than I do, so maybe I feel uncomfortable walking in and asking "Hey, have you ever heard of _____?" when they probably have heard of it many times. Probably if they thought it was a good idea, they would have suggested it, right?

But my life is on the line, and I want to take charge and be as proactive as possible. How do you start the conversation? Any advice?

Anonymous

I do this all the time and I mostly say “I read about the (Herceptin shot, a real thing I asked about) being approved by the FDA, do you think we’ll be getting it here?”

Another example - at the beginning of my treatment I was reading about liquid biopsy and I asked if having one would be a part of my diagnosis and treatment.

If I read about something here, I say that’s where I saw it.

I have had two different oncologists, never had a bad reaction from either of them, to any of my questions. I got the chance to switch from infusions to shots for my HER2 treatment only because I asked.

A few times, I read about trials or animal studies my old MO didn’t know about. She thanked me for the info. Don’t be afraid, just ask. I know they always say not to Google and all that, but getting reliable info from a source like BCO is not a bad thing. Any doctor should be open to answering intelligent questions about your treatment. It’s YOUR body and YOUR treatment, that they are being paid to give you.

Good luck!

Moderators

Hi buttonsmachine,

Great info above from Olma! Remember, it's important to be your own advocate in your treatment -- you are just as much a part of your treatment team as your doctors. Don't be shy about bringing up any questions you may have: ask why your doctors have suggested certain treatments, offer up suggestions you may have read about and ask why those treatments may or may not work for you, and find out what new treatments may be upcoming that you might qualify for in a clinical trial. YOUR the most important piece of your care, so make sure you stand up and have a voice in it!

Let us know how you make out!

--The Mods

buttonsmachine

Thank you Olma and Mods for your advice and encouragement. (And I'm going to look up the liquid biopsy!)

I think it was easier for me to advocate for myself when I was early stage, and I had a better grasp of the standard of care treatment options. Now I'm finding that MBC is not only much more complicated, but the stakes are higher too. Let alone the fact that my cancer keeps mutating so when I search for clinical trials I'm not even entirely sure what I qualify for anymore.

Anyway, thanks again for the encouragement. I hope there is something out there that can knock this cancer back for a while.