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 Talking About Your Prognosis
Regardless of your disease, you will want to understand your prognosis
- that is, the probable course of the disease. This conversation first
occurs after the initial diagnostic testing or surgery has taken place.
However, discussion of prognosis should remain an ongoing consideration
during any treatment planning, including when there is evidence of
advanced disease. You and your doctor will often find it hard to confront
these issues. It is always easier to "put it off until the next
visit."
This conversation might be easier if you include it in nearly every
encounter. Try out something like this: "I understand that
we are always pretty uncertain when looking at the future, but what
I understand now about how this disease is likely to go is that
I am likely to live with it for some months before it starts taking
its toll, and that then I will probably have just a few months left.
Is there anything else you can tell me now? Is it reasonable to
think that I will still be able to travel to be with my children
this Christmas?"
Some days, you really just won't want to deal with the future.
Even then, you can help the conversation next time by saying something
like this: "With all the worries of the last few weeks, I can't
really bear to think of things getting worse. Still, next time I
see you, I would appreciate an update on how I'm doing and what
problems are likely to arise, given how my disease is progressing
and how I feel." By doing this, you create an opening that
will make it easier for either of you to bring up the subject next
time.
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