Cancer Patients and Their Relatives Should Be Good Listeners

Listening can sometimes be quite complicated. Nevertheless, most of us can become good listeners by making time and paying attention to a few tips.

It is necessary to be much more careful in a field such as oncology, which requires diagnosis and treatment strategies that are extremely difficult to understand and comprehend. To communicate in an environment where the person in front of you understands you and you feel that you are also understood, it will be helpful to pay attention to the matters I have outlined below.

1. Remove technology from the picture when meeting with your doctor. Turning off your phone while meeting with your doctor will prevent your doctor from losing concentration. Thus, your doctor will be able to give you closer attention. Focus on what the doctor says during your consultation and do not concern yourself with other things. Remember that an oncologist who has a large number of patients has limited time. It will be in your interest to use such important time allocated to you as efficiently as possible.

2. You should be inquisitive about your illness and treatment options. How difficult it is for you to face such an unfamiliar situation, isn’t it? However, preparing questions in advance about the matters on your mind before going to your doctor will both save time and impress your doctor. Your desire to receive answers will please your doctor and will lead your doctor to perceive you as someone who produces solutions. You should know that the more you organize the questions in your mind and share them with your doctor, the more information you can acquire from the answers you receive. This will make your doctor’s work easier during this difficult process.

3. After asking a question, wait for your doctor to answer it and give the other person time. Frequently interrupting your doctor while they are explaining this extremely difficult situation may cause a loss of concentration. Also, preparing the points you did not fully understand during your previous consultation with your doctor before the next consultation will ensure that you do not leave anything forgotten and will eliminate the question marks in your mind. However, give your doctor time to explain sufficiently here and listen carefully. Do not rush to answer the questions yourself; wait for your doctor. What is important here is that you are able to obtain sufficient information about your illness. Thus, your doctor’s respect for you will increase, creating the impression that you are a cooperative patient.

4. Choose a time specifically set aside for you to meet with your doctor. It is extremely important that the other party be prepared just as you are prepared for a consultation. You should not expect a doctor who follows hundreds of patients in a field such as oncology to recognize you immediately or immediately remember the details of your illness and the treatment being administered. You must not forget that your doctor may have thousands of patients. Therefore, when you meet, it may not be possible for your doctor to remember you and know all the details about your illness and treatment. Rather than trying to meet standing up in a crowded environment, you should make an appointment and allow your doctor to set aside a suitable place and time for you. In this way, you will have the opportunity to communicate more effectively and healthily with your doctor, who has set aside time specifically for you.

5. Make sure that you have correctly understood what was discussed when meeting with your doctor, and take notes. During a consultation, you may not have understood the subject sufficiently either because of the stress of what you have experienced or because the doctor sometimes uses a great deal of medical terminology. Pretending to understand so as not to offend the other person, while not having sufficient information, will not help you. At this point, repeating what you have understood and asking whether you have correctly understood what your doctor said will strengthen your communication and, if there is a missing point that could sometimes be vital for you, give your doctor an opportunity to correct it. In addition, whatever the circumstances, if there is a plan or strategy related to your treatment or certain tasks assigned to you, be sure to try to obtain them in writing. You must not forget that spoken words fly away, but the written word remains. Also, try to obtain important notes in writing as much as possible, such as the medication you will use, the date of your appointment, or the time of any examination. If you cannot obtain this from your doctor, please take notes.

6. Ask your doctor questions about the subject being discussed. If information you have not heard before is being conveyed to you—for example, if a doctor mentions a genetic test to a lung cancer patient who is about to receive chemotherapy—ask about its details. Try to learn from the doctor requesting this test what you will do if the result is positive or negative. Or, if your doctor tells you that an unexpected test or consultation is needed, find out what they expect as a result and what you need to do in the next step. This will reassure you and make you more willing and motivated to undergo the treatment to be administered after that stage.

As a patient and a patient’s relative, listening to your doctor and recognizing your own individual characteristics will improve your ability to establish stronger communication. In this way, you will have the opportunity to discover how you can improve communication. Rest assured, your doctor is also constantly trying to improve in this regard. However, it is equally important for you, as a patient and a patient’s relative, to try to improve yourself. Lessons can be learned from every communication. You should know that improving communication among the patient, doctor, and healthcare professional will have more positive repercussions than you can imagine.