Coming from out of town, in one trip

Many of the people we see do not live in the city they are treated in. They come in from Jamnagar, Morbi, Amreli, Gondal, Porbandar, Surendranagar — a bus or a car before dawn, a long day of counters and corridors, and the road home in the dark. Done badly, one diagnosis turns into four separate journeys. Most of that is avoidable, and a good deal of it is avoidable by saying one sentence when you book.

Say these things when you book

• That you are travelling in, and from where. Tests can then be arranged for the same day wherever that is possible, so you travel once.
• Ask which clinic your appointment is at. Saurashtra Cancer Care consults at Wockhardt Hospital in Rajkot and at Samanvay Hospital in Junagadh. Those are two different cities, and it is the one detail on this page that is worth reading back over the phone.
• Ask what time to arrive, not only what time the appointment is. Registration happens first and takes about 10 minutes.
• Ask whether anything needs an empty stomach. Some tests do, and learning that at the counter costs you the day.

The folder

Put every medical report and scan you have into one folder, oldest at the back, including the old ones you think are irrelevant. Add a list of the medicines you take, and your ID. Carry the folder itself rather than photographs of it on a phone — a doctor comparing this year's scan against last year's needs both in their hands.

Bring one person with you

Not for company. For memory. A conversation about your own diagnosis is one of the hardest to remember accurately afterwards, and two people remember more than one. It also means somebody other than the patient knows where the folder is and what was said.

If the day runs long

Sometimes tests fall across two days and you need somewhere to stay. There are lodges and hotels within a few minutes of both hospitals, at a range of prices, and the desk can point you at them. Tell us when you book that you are coming from out of town, and we will arrange what we can onto one day.