Keep It Together Care

How to use this guide

Bowels During Treatment

This guide helps you keep a simple record of bowel changes during treatment, write down your own team's rules about when to call, and keep track of the laxatives and other bowel medicines the team has prescribed. It never tells you to start, stop or change a medicine, or how much to give.

Get the free guide

On a phone, tablet or computer

Fill it in by typing

  1. Download the PDF from your email or from the download page.
  2. Open it in a PDF app that supports forms, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader (free on computers, phones and tablets).
  3. Tap a box and type. Tick boxes tick with one tap.
  4. Save the file. Your answers stay in your copy; nothing is sent to Keep It Together Care.

On paper

Print it and write by hand

  1. Print it on A4. The rows and boxes are sized for handwriting.
  2. Copy medicine names exactly as they appear on the label or prescription.
  3. Keep it somewhere private but easy to reach, and have it by the phone when you ring the team.

Video walkthrough

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A short video showing how to fill in this guide is on its way.

Common questions

Where do I start?
With "What our team told us". Ask your team when they want you to call about diarrhoea or constipation, and write their answers in their words. Rules differ between hospitals.
Do I have to fill in the daily record every day?
One line a day is enough, even if the answer is "not been". A run of days without going is exactly what the team will ask about.
Can the guide tell me which laxative to give?
No. Give laxatives and anti-diarrhoea medicines only as the prescriber, pharmacist or team has said. The guide records what they told you and every change they make.
I typed into it, but my answers had gone when I opened it again. Why?
Some previews, such as a browser tab or an email preview, can't save answers in a form. Download the PDF first, open it in a PDF app that supports forms, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, then save.
Is anything I write sent anywhere?
No. The PDF doesn't send your answers to Keep It Together Care or to anyone else. They stay in the file on your device, or on your paper copy.

What’s inside

  • Why bowels matter during treatment
  • What our team told us
  • When to call, and when not to wait
  • Before you ring the 24-hour line: have this ready
  • Daily bowel record
  • Laxatives and bowel medicines
  • Painkillers, laxatives and suppositories
  • As-needed bowel medicines record
  • Changes to bowel medicines: never overwritten
  • If they have a stoma
  • Small things that can help
  • Accidents, sore skin and dignity
  • Making the toilet easier
  • Keeping everyone safe at home
  • When they cannot tell you
  • Talking about it without the embarrassment
  • Questions for the team or pharmacist
  • Sources and support

Practical organisation, not medical advice. Your own care team’s advice always comes first. See all free help