Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with drugs which are cytotoxic (damaging to the cells) that destroy cancer cells or make them less active. A combination of different drugs may be used over a variable length of time; your named consultant will discuss this and the treatment plan with you. Chemotherapy works by targeting abnormal cells which rapidly divide; some other cells in the body also rapidly divide and therefore can be targeted by the chemotherapy as well.

As a result of this your child may experience a variety of side effects including; effects on the bone marrow, hair loss, nausea/vomiting, infection and temperatures, mouth irritation, gut irritation, diarrhoea and constipation. These are all things that the ward and community nurses are trained in assessing and caring for. Chemotherapy can be given via a variety of routes including, intravenous, oral, intramuscular and intrathecal, your consultant or nurse will go through these terms with you and detail which routes your child may receive treatment by.

All chemotherapy within the household must be stored and handled with care, your nurse will go through this with you. As chemotherapy can be damaging to healthy cells we advise that family members protect themselves when handling bodily fluid whilst your child is receiving chemotherapy as once it is in the body it’s by products can be excreted up to 7 days after in all bodily fluid.  When changing nappies we recommend that you wear gloves and that you wash your hands thoroughly after coming into contact with any bodily fluid. In particular women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should avoid handling chemotherapy if at all possible.  We also recommend that if any household linen, for example, clothing bedding, comes into contact with any bodily fluid during this time that these are washed separately to any other garments on a hot wash.  During this time we also recommend putting the toilet seat down before flushing the toilet.