ABOUT PROSTATE CANCER

Talking to your healthcare professional about your treatment

Published June 2021

Talking to your healthcare professional about your treatment
Talking to your healthcare professional about your treatment

Most people, regardless of their prostate cancer diagnosis or whether they have been dealing with prostate cancer for some time, can find themselves overwhelmed or anxious when visiting their healthcare professional (HCP). Be it a routine appointment, or a more important review of your treatment and further options, it can sometimes be difficult to feel confident that you are taking in all the information you’re given. Unfamiliar medical terms may be used that mean more to your HCP than to you, so you may end up not really processing everything that’s being said. You’re also likely to be given lots of different types of information in a short space of time, such as:

  • scientific details about advanced prostate cancer and its treatments
  • information about side effects of treatment and how serious or common they are
  • statistics about people with prostate cancer and their response to treatment
  • test results and what terms like PSA mean (prostate specific antigen)

If you feel overwhelmed by all this information, try to bear in mind that no one expects you to understand or indeed remember everything straight away. If ever you’re in doubt, it’s better to ask and know for sure, than sit worrying. Healthcare professionals would rather know if there’s something bothering you, as they may be able to help.

There are steps you can take to ensure that you get the most out of your appointment with your HCP and that you leave feeling comfortable that you have a good understanding of what was said during that time. This guide aims to give you some helpful hints to follow, starting with:

BEFORE YOUR APPOINTMENT

Be prepared

Being prepared is a great way to help with your confidence during your appointment. A list of things you can do to prepare for your appointment include:

  1. Plan practical details, like where your appointment is and how you will get there
  2. Prepare a list of questions for your HCP – it can help to write these down so that you can refer to them during your appointment.
  3. Set an appointment goal – it can help setting yourself an intention for each appointment, so that you can work towards resolving any particular issues that are bothering you. This could be something like:

“My goal for this appointment is to:

  • Leave with a good understanding of how my treatment actually works, OR
  • Leave with a treatment for a particular side effect of my cancer treatment, OR
  • Leave knowing how I can get extra support with pain/feeling low/practical issues.”

ON THE DAY

Be supported

Although there can be a lot of psychological ‘build-up’ to your appointment, the session itself can feel like a fleeting moment.

  1. If you feel comfortable doing so, it is a good idea to bring a friend or family member with you. Knowing you have an extra person there listening too can help you concentrate on what your HCP is telling you.
  2. Taking notes also helps, so bring a pen and paper or ask your HCP if you can record the conversation on a device such as your mobile phone.

While talking to your HCP

It may help to remember the following in order to keep the discussion on track and to help you make sure you get all your points across and leave understanding as much as possible about what is happening to you:

  • Be confident: Only you know how you really feel. It is not self-indulgent to be clear on what matters to you most – in fact, your HCP will want to know this information so that they can help you.
  • Ask questions: Don’t be afraid to stop and ask questions to be sure you’ve understood what is being said or if you want even more information than what has been given. If you are discussing your current treatment but you want to know what other options there are, it is ok to ask. If you aren’t sure about what your HCP has just said, ask if it could be explained to you in another way. Before the appointment ends, it can help to repeat what you’ve understood from the conversation in your own words, so that your HCP can better explain the details or fill in anything they’ve missed.
  • Confirm what happens next: Before you leave the HCP's office, it can be good to agree on what will happen next, e.g. how long till your next test, or how will you find out your test results, or how long it will take for you to hear from the clinic about your next appointment. That way you can have a clear picture of what is going to happen and will help you manage your feelings and expectations between appointments.

AFTER YOUR APPOINTMENT

Be kind to yourself

It is important to remember to acknowledge how you are feeling after your appointment with your HCP. It is very common, regardless of the outcome of the appointment – i.e. if it was good news or bad - to feel tired, deflated, or just numb. Acknowledging how you feel, whether to yourself or to a friend or family member, can help you to better cope with these feelings, now and in the future.

If you need additional help coping with difficult feelings, you can try the mindfulness modules or one of the wellbeing articles we have created especially for these circumstances or ask your healthcare team if they know of any help or support services in your area.

SOURCES:
  1. Talking to your healthcare team. Macmillan Cancer Support. Available at 
https://www.macmillan.org.uk/information-and-support/treating/treatment-decisions/who-will-be-involved-in-my-treatment-decision/talking-to-your-healthcare-team.html. Accessed October 2025.
  2. Talking to your doctor. National Institutes of Health. Available at https://www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director/office-communications-public-liaison/clear-communication/talking-your-doctor. Accessed October 2025.
  3. Choosing a treatment. Prostate Cancer UK. Available at https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information/treatments/choosing-a-treatment. Accessed October 2025.

Explore more articles...

PATIENT & CARER STORIES
Personal experience: How I cope with my diagnosis

Read the story of how another person with advanced prostate cancer manages the challenges of their diagnosis

ABOUT PROSTATE CANCER
How to interpret your results

Read this useful guide to help you understand more about the treatment process and what your test results mean.

Suggested Reading

Take a look at our recent articles on advanced prostate cancer, including articles on how treatments work and additional support for your wellbeing.

MAT-GB-ENZ-2025-00003 November 2025