ABSTRACT
This chapter provides guidelines for the non-professional carer and offers practical advice and ideas. Chemotherapy is the use of medicines to kill cancer cells. The drugs may be given in tablet form but are often given as a drip into a vein and treatments can take anything from a few minutes to several hours to administer. Because the drugs must be freshly made up in a specially controlled environment, it can take a couple of hours to prepare the prescription. This means that the patient could wait an hour or so after seeing the doctor before starting their treatment session. Chemotherapy is usually given as an outpatient or a day patient, although patients occasionally stay in hospital, either overnight, or for a few days for a more complicated regime. Side effects such as sickness are usually worst in the days immediately following treatment and it is at these times that the patient might need extra support and care.
