• Pause before making any major medical decisions.
• Join a support group.
• Find a palliative care doctor or nurse.
Break the silence and ask your doctor questions, including:
• Can you sketch the usual trajectory of my illness?
• What do you hope this treatment will do for me?
• How will it affect how I feel day to day?
• What are the pros, cons, and alternatives?
• What is it like to die of my disease, and how can medicine ease my symptoms?
• Will you still be my doctor if I opt for strictly palliative care?
• When do patients with my disease benefit most from hospice?
Ask yourself:
• What activities or capacities make my life worth living?
• What are my greatest fears and regrets?
• Given that time may be short, how do I want to spend it?