Questions to Ask Your Doctor

If you have recently been diagnosed with Tuberculosis, you may be feeling quite emotional. Whether you are confused, nervous, scared, upset, or a combination of those, there are many ways help relieve this anxiousness. You could seek emotional support through family and community members. You could also try to learn about TB disease through various mediums. However, one of the the best ways to find comfort after hearing this news is to talk with you health provider.

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What can you talk about with your health care provider though? Your doctors and nurses are there to inform you as well as support you and see you through your fight against this disease. If you are feeling confused, scared or uninformed, your health care workers should be the first people you seek for information and relief. When the time comes however, you may be unsure of what questions to ask or what answers you are looking for when talking to your doctor. Therefore, This post seeks to list 10 important questions (that have not been completely addressed in previous posts) you may want to ask your doctor!


1)  What symptoms can I expect while infected with TB disease?

2) What sort of medical tests can I expect to take and what will these tests do?

3) Is surgery a likely scenario?

4) What kind of treatment plan will I be put on?

5) What type of complications may arise?

6) How can I avoid these complications?

7) Do I have any pre-existing conditions that may affect my treatments?

8) What is my expected timeline when being treated with TB?

9) Are there any side effects of TB drugs that I may take?

10) How often should I take my TB medication?

Answers to these questions may vary by patient so your doctor will have the best answers for you!

          

                               

TB Prevention

If you have recently been diagnosed with TB, you may feel fear of spreading this dangerous bacteria to friends and loved ones. Also, if you have a friend or family member who has come down with TB disease, you may want to help them with their treatment, but at the same time you may feel worried about exposing yourself. This post will go into details about how to avoid spreading this disease while still allowing for the close comfort and support that loved ones have to offer.

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To begin, the first thing you should do after being diagnosed with Tuberculosis is to talk with your doctor about the people that you feel have come in close contact with you before you started your treatment and may have passed on the TB germs to. By thinking about these people and notifying your healthcare provider, you can allow them to get tested for TB and remove any worries or fear that you have harmed others! Below are tips provided by the CDC to help you when having this discussion with your doctor.

CDC Pamphlet

After you have gone over your contacts with your healthcare provider, there are other simple steps you can take to help ensure you don't infect those around you:

• Follow your entire medication regiment! this may be the most important thing you do, both for yourself and those around you! If you don't follow the medication guidelines set out for you by your doctor, the disease can easily worsen and you may stay infectious for much longer. 
• Avoid leaving your house. This will ensure that the disease does not spread to random people.
• Stay in a ventilated area. This is important because TB bacteria can spread easier in a room with no air movement.
• Cover your mouth or wear a mask. When sneezing, coughing, or laughing, others can inhale the released bacteria and become infected with TB. This can be avoided through the use of a mask. 

By following these tips and suggestions, you will find that you feel much better about the possibility of spreading this disease to those close to you.

For more information about the protection of others from TB, check out this Informational CDC pamphlet and this helpful mayoclic.org page! Both of these resources can be very useful when seeking prevention tips.