How to use this guide
Starting Chemotherapy Pack
This pack helps with the practical side of chemotherapy: the 24-hour contact details, a one-page treatment map, treatment days, a cycle diary, take-home medicines and sharing the load. It doesn't replace the instructions your treatment team gives you.
On a phone, tablet or computer
Fill it in by typing
- Download the PDF from your email or from the download page.
- Open it in a PDF app that supports forms, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader (free on computers, phones and tablets).
- Tap a box and type. Tick boxes tick with one tap.
- 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
- Print it on A4. The rows and boxes are sized for handwriting.
- Copy names, dates and numbers exactly as they appear on letters, labels and reports.
- Keep it somewhere easy to reach, and take the pages you need to appointments.
Video walkthrough
Coming soonComing soon
A short video showing how to fill in this guide is on its way.
Common questions
- What should I fill in first?
- "Build the 24-hour safety system": the hospital's 24-hour number and what your team told you to call about. Keep it somewhere everyone can find it.
- How do I use the cycle diary?
- Write a short note each day of what changed, in your own words. It is a record to share with the team, not a way to decide what to do.
- What if I'm worried about a symptom?
- Follow your team's instructions and call the number they gave you. In a life-threatening emergency, call 999.
- 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
- Build the 24-hour safety system
- One-page treatment map
- Treatment day: remove avoidable stress
- Cycle diary
- Take-home medicines
- Symptoms: record, then use the team's rules
- Food, fluids, mouth and fatigue
- Home precautions after treatment
- The carer's job: continuity, not clinical decisions
- Blood tests, appointments and decisions
- Practical life: take work away from the person in treatment
- Sources and support lines
Practical organisation, not medical advice. Your own care team’s advice always comes first. See all free help