What to ask before you leave the unit

Three answers: when the next cycle is, who to call and on which number at night, and what should make you call. Everything else can be sorted out later by telephone. Those three cannot, because they are the ones you need at the exact moment you cannot reach anyone.

People leave the unit exhausted and relieved, with the day finally over, and nobody wants to stand at a desk asking questions. Then at eleven at night a temperature reading appears and there is no number and no instruction.

Ask before you stand up from the chair

It takes two minutes. Nurses expect these questions and are glad to be asked — it is the patients who ask nothing that they worry about, because those are the ones who turn up late or not at all.

More problems come from this than from anything else on the list. Prescriptions left uncollected at the pharmacy, instructions half remembered, a changed dose taken on the old schedule, or a tablet nobody realised had to start that same evening.

Have them in your hand, not on a slip

Actually collected, actually in the bag. A prescription still at the counter at eight in the evening is the commonest reason a first week goes badly, because the anti-sickness cover never starts.

Get the schedule in writing

Which tablet, what time, how many days, with or without food. Not explained verbally at a busy desk. Ask them to write it, or write it yourself and read it back to check.

Compare the boxes against last cycle

If something has been changed, added or stopped, notice it now rather than at home. Ask what is different and why. Changes made at a review get missed constantly and then taken on the previous schedule.

Set the alarms before you leave the building

Phone alarms for every dose, for the full number of days. Taking anti-sickness medicine late, or stopping early because you feel fine, is the single commonest reason a plan appears not to work.

Beyond medicines and emergencies, a short list of ordinary questions that shape the next three weeks and are almost never asked because nobody thinks of them at the desk.

Driving, working and going out

Whether you can drive today and generally, whether work is reasonable, when to avoid crowds, and whether there is anything you should not eat. Ask about the specific things your life actually involves.

The household

How long the body fluid precautions last for your drugs, whether anyone at home needs particular care, and whether you can be around children and anyone pregnant. Short answers that prevent a lot of unnecessary fear.

Paperwork

Any reports or certificates you need for insurance, a scheme, or your employer. Far easier to request at the desk than to come back for, and easily forgotten until the day someone asks for it.

What to bring next time

Whether anything has changed about the next visit — a different location, an earlier arrival, a test beforehand, or a longer day. Ask whether blood can be taken the day before, which removes the longest wait from the day.