What to expect when having chemotherapy

This information will apply in most cases, but you may find that things are done slightly differently depending on how you have chemotherapy and where you have treatment.

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Before chemotherapy

During chemotherapy

To prepare for chemotherapy and between cycles, you will have a number of tests to help plan treatment:

weight and height checked to work out the right dose
blood and urine tests to check how well your kidneys and liver are working and the number of blood cells
x-rays and scans to check that you are fit for treatment and see how the tumour is responding to treatment
heart monitoring tests to record your heartbeat (ECG) or heart ultrasound (ECHO) to see if the drugs are affecting your heart
lung function tests to check the effect of some chemotherapy drugs on your lungs.

While receiving chemotherapy you will be:

seated in a padded chair in a room with other patients; you are usually able to walk around the ward (e.g. if you need to go to the toilet)
given anti-nausea or antiemetic medicine so you don’t feel sick
encouraged to drink several glasses of water to help ensure that the chemotherapy drugs don’t sit in the kidneys or bladder too long
monitored throughout the session – nurses will talk to you about ways to manage side effects
able to travel to and from chemo by yourself, though it’s recommended that someone is with you the first time in case you feel unwell.

Many people are given steroids with their chemotherapy to ease or prevent nausea. Steroids may also be used to manage allergic reactions, to make chemotherapy more effective, or to directly treat the cancer. Steroids may cause indigestion, increase in appetite, irritability or mood swings, difficulty sleeping or increase in blood glucose levels. Some people also experience muscle weakness.

This information was last reviewed in August 2018. View who reviewed this content.

Dr Prunella Blinman, Medical Oncologist, Concord Cancer Centre, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, and Clinical Senior Lecturer, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSW; Gillian Blanchard, Oncology Nurse Practitioner, Calvary Mater Newcastle, and Conjoint Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, The University of Newcastle, NSW; Julie Bolton, Consumer; Keely Gordon-King, Psychologist, Cancer Council Queensland, QLD; John Jameson, Consumer; Dr Zarnie Lwin, Medical Oncologist, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, and Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, QLD; Caitriona Nienaber, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council WA; Dr Felicia Roncolato, Medical Oncology Staff Specialist, Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre, NSW. We also thank the health professionals, consumers and editorial teams who have worked on previous editions of this title.

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