When making up your mind about treatment (Childhood Germ Cell Tumor), you must know every detail about the treatment opted for. It would be best to ask questions about cancer that you do not know anything about. It would be best to have an adult to accompany the child to ask the questions and concerns.
Do not forget to ask your healthcare team questions during and after the treatment.
Questions to ask after diagnosis
- What type of tumour has been diagnosed?
- Can you explain the pathology report?
- Where is the location of cancer exactly?
- What is the grade of my child’s cancer?
- Should we go for a second opinion?
- Should we seek genetic testing or counselling?
- What is your familiarity with the tumour my child has?
Questions to ask about Childhood Germ Cell Tumor treatment options
- What are my child’s treatment options?
- Which treatment option do you recommend?
- What is the goal of treatment?
- What are the side effects of treatment, both short-term and long-term?
- Can we change our minds after we start the treatment?
- What will be the effects of the treatment on my child’s daily life?
- Can my child work, exercise, and perform his daily activities?
- What are the chances for success with the planned treatments?
- What about the cost of the treatment?
Questions about Radiotherapy or Chemotherapy
- What kind of therapy do you recommend and why?
- How long will it take for a treatment?
- What side are effects expected during and after the treatment?
- What are the long term effects of the treatment?
- How can you prevent or reduce these effects?
Questions to ask about surgery about ChildhoodGerm Cell Tumor
- What type of surgery will my child have?
- How many procedures of this type has the surgeon done?
- How long will the operation last?
- Is the surgery safe?
- How long does my child need to stay in the hospital?
- What are the short-term and long-term effects of the surgery?
Taking part in a clinical trial
- Is there any clinical trial available currently my child can take part in?
- How does being a part of the trial change my child’s treatment option?
- What is the aim and background of this trial?
Choosing not to have treatment
- Can we opt not to have any treatment?
- What are the possibilities if we decide not to take any medicine?
- If my child avoids treatment now, can he/she have it later?
- Would the aim and result be the same if my child takes the treatment last?
Question about after treatment
- What happens after treatment finishes?
- How long will it take for them to return to a routine life?
Questions about cancer recurrence
- How will we know that cancer has come back?
- What can be the symptoms and signs for a cancer recurrence?
- How can we reduce the risk of cancer recurrence ?
- What is an approach to stay healthy after treatment?
Questions about follow-up care about ChildhoodGerm Cell Tumor
- What are the follow-up tests?
- How regularly do he/she need to visit the oncologist?
- Who will have my child’s treatment summary, and how can I take them and a survivorship care plan to keep in my records?
- Which survivorship support services are available to my child?
