Questions for surgeon

sweetvickid

The last of May I will be having a double mastectomy and would like to have a list of questions for when I meet with the surgeon. What should I ask him?

CarrWilson

Questions
There are so many questions you will have, write them all down as you think of them. Keep a ongoing list. Search this site, there is a list of "Treatment Decision tools", in the Surgery section there is a list of questions at the end to ask your MD.

Some of my questions were:

Lumpectomy vs. Mastectomy vs prophylactic other side Mastectomy?
Chemo/Radiation? (they will probably refer you to Oncologist)
Will there be drains? How many?
How long will the surgery be?
Lymph node Dissection? How many nodes will you take for sampling?
Reconstruction? (will refer you to P.S. for this)
How long in the hospital?
How long to return to work? (this will possibly depend on your type of job)


He/She will probably order preop labs, EKG, Chest Xray, will give you RX for pain meds, and possibly antibiotics. My surgeon had his usual spiel and explained a lot of my questions before I really had a chance to ask. Everyone has their own worries, expectations, and fears. Be sure to write it down and take that list with you. It would also be good to have another "set of ears" when you go. It is hard to digest everything they will tell you, so have another family member, friend, co-worker etc.. take notes.

Hopefully this will help. Welcome to this club, so sorry you have to join. I wish you good luck!

- Carrie

katznc

OnQ pump
Ask about having an OnQ pump. I have one and it is a God send, it pumps a novicane type drug to your incision sites and makes them numb. Its good for about 3 days I did not even need any pain meds after surgery. It is important to understand the lymph node thing. There is a section on the Susan B Komen website that you can actually print out the list of questions. Its really good.

Ritzy

CarrWilson said:

Questions
There are so many questions you will have, write them all down as you think of them. Keep a ongoing list. Search this site, there is a list of "Treatment Decision tools", in the Surgery section there is a list of questions at the end to ask your MD.

Some of my questions were:

Lumpectomy vs. Mastectomy vs prophylactic other side Mastectomy?
Chemo/Radiation? (they will probably refer you to Oncologist)
Will there be drains? How many?
How long will the surgery be?
Lymph node Dissection? How many nodes will you take for sampling?
Reconstruction? (will refer you to P.S. for this)
How long in the hospital?
How long to return to work? (this will possibly depend on your type of job)


He/She will probably order preop labs, EKG, Chest Xray, will give you RX for pain meds, and possibly antibiotics. My surgeon had his usual spiel and explained a lot of my questions before I really had a chance to ask. Everyone has their own worries, expectations, and fears. Be sure to write it down and take that list with you. It would also be good to have another "set of ears" when you go. It is hard to digest everything they will tell you, so have another family member, friend, co-worker etc.. take notes.

Hopefully this will help. Welcome to this club, so sorry you have to join. I wish you good luck!

- Carrie

Just wishing you good luck
Just wishing you good luck on your surgery in May!

Sue