Medical Oncology

What to expect

Clinic Appointments
Your treatment team will prepare you for any treatments or procedures. Your initial appointment will be just like a specialist doctor visit in a small consultation room. You need to report to reception to have your details checked and your weight entered in the system. We do need to ask for your details every time you visit us, even if you come regularly. There are a number of waiting areas for your comfort.

Chemotherapy Treatment
Chemotherapy affects everyone differently, so preparation will differ from one person to another. However, a number of general concerns are worth considering:

• Stay healthy – eat a nourishing diet, drink lots of water, and get enough sleep, and balance rest and physical activity. (Good nutrition and exercise can help with some side effects).
• Work – if you are working, talk to your employer about the time you may need off.
• Discussions/Questions – If you are feeling anxious about the diagnosis and/or treatment, talk to you family member, friends or to you GP and/or nurse. Keep a list of questions for the Oncologist.
• Check your teeth – It’s a good idea to visit you dentist for a checkup before chemo treatment begins. The dentist can check for any current mouth infections that may cause issues if chemotherapy affects your immune system.
• Organise help at home – Consider asking a friend or family to help coordinate young children and/or older children during treatment sessions and possibly afterwards. Consider some support with housework and errands to ease the load.

• Freeze some meals – You may not feel like cooking during the weeks of treatment, consider freezing meals ahead of time. Family and friends may arrange a meal roster to help out.

Treatment Side effects
The most common side effects are:

• Fatigue
• Appetite changes
• Nausea or vomiting
• Sexuality and fertility changes
• Nerve, muscle and hearing effects
• Skin and nail changes
• Mouth sores
• Constipation or diarrhoea
• Memory changes
• Anaemia, infections and bleeding
• Hair loss.

Before treatment begins, your doctor or nurse will discuss side effects to watch out for or report.

What to bring

• Pack a chemo bag – a bag for your chemo sessions could include:
• Warm clothing (layers in case you get cold)
• Healthy snacks
• Lip balm
• Books, magazines, newspaper, crosswords, and a laptop or tablet
• OR Bring a family member or friend.

Parking

Plan how you will get to chemo sessions. For your first session, arrange a driver as you won’t know how you will feel. There is paid parking underneath the building and timed, free, parking in the surrounding streets which varies from one to three hours. 

Chemotherapy diary

It can be useful to record information about your treatment in one place. This could be helpful to record details about side effects, how long they lasted, and what helped to reduce them.