Chemotherapy: What To Do While In Treatment

Caregivers can do a variety of things to help, including:

• Go with you to appointments, especially on chemo days.
• If you are unable to drive or go for appointments, talk with the social worker or nurse at the doctor's office to get help.
• Know how to get in touch with the patient's doctor, even when the office is closed.
• If the patient is unable to get to an appointment, talk with the doctor or nurse as soon as possible, and plan what to do next.
• Be sure that someone is with the patient during the first couple of days after each chemo treatment, since more help may be needed at those times.
• Help watch for side effects and symptoms, and see those sections in this guide.

Call the doctor if the patient:

• Has any side effect that lasts more than 1 day
• Has a fever of 100.5 'F when taken by mouth
• Has any bleeding
• Has pain or redness at the IV site where the chemo was given
• Becomes unable to swallow or keep down chemo pills or liquids

SURVIVORSHIP A to Z NOTE: Caregivers may want to call the American Cancer Society (800.ACS.2345) and ask for:

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  • A copy of Understanding Chemotherapy: A Guide for Patients and Families and/or Oral Chemotherapy: What You Need to Know .
  • Information on each chemotherapy drug the patient will be taking, and find out more about the type of cancer he or she has.
  • Go to a list of symptoms to find other problems in Caring for the Patient with Cancer at Home: A Guide for Patients and Families

 

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