Table 2.

Potential Barriers to Question Asking

Barrier	Quote
1. Feeling overwhelmed	“I just felt numb, my mind was just gone, I just didn’t ask the questions I should have, but afterwards…you keep thinking of things you should have said.” “If you never had cancer, you know, you just be kind of lost.”
2. Trusting the medical team	“I’m not educated in that, so I wouldn’t ask about that.” “I figured they had more to say than me. Back in the day when I was on my job, if somebody came to my job, I’m the one with the information.” “I didn’t have to ask many questions because here they are very, very thorough.”
3. Avoiding information	“I was downplaying it. I didn’t want to get all worked up about it.” “That is gonna cause worry, and that worry, then, can affect not only your treatment but it can affect your health in general.” “One question I don’t want to know is how long do I have. I don’t want to know. I think if a person wants to know, they should ask. I don’t think the doctor should tell them.”
4. Feeling some information is irrelevant	“I didn’t ask about how chemo would affect other conditions because I don’t have any other conditions.” “I didn’t ask about transportation because my husband drives me.”
5. Feeling they already knew enough	“I didn’t ask about how to prevent side effects because there is no way to prevent them.” “My mom had gone through it, two of my aunts have gone through it.”
6. Not knowing what questions to ask	“I didn’t think about getting chemo at another site. I didn’t know I had a choice.” “I guess at that time I didn’t think of it.”
7. Feeling Intimidated by the medical team	“I guess maybe it was a dumb question.” I had a lot of questions, but I just, when you’re sitting there talking, it’s almost intimidated…I think sometimes you feel like, who am I to question the doctor? He knows what’s best.”