Medical Oncologist
Before you start
Getting your home ready for chemotherapy
Three things: make one room easy to rest and be cared for in, sort out the kitchen and the water, and put the emergency information where everybody can see it. Everything else is optional. You are preparing for the low-count days in the middle of a cycle, not for treatment day itself.
NG
Medically reviewed by Dr. Naresh GunduConsultant Medical Oncologist · MBBS, DNB (Internal Medicine), DM (Medical Oncology, AIIMS) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
17+specialists on panel
15,000+patients treated
35+centres across Telangana & AP
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The short answer
What needs doing at home before chemotherapy starts?
Three things: make one room easy to rest and be cared for in, sort out the kitchen and the water, and put the emergency information somewhere everybody can see it. Everything else is optional.
This is written for whoever is doing the caring, because it is nearly always the attendant who ends up organising all of it, usually at the worst possible moment. A weekend of preparation now saves several bad nights later.
You are preparing for the low-count days, not for treatment day
The hard stretch is the middle of a cycle, when tiredness is at its deepest and infection risk at its highest. That is the week the house has to work well: food that can be made in minutes, a toilet that is easy to reach, and nobody having to go out for supplies.
Do not rebuild the house
Families spend money on air purifiers, separate crockery sets and new furniture that changes nothing. Handwashing, clean water, safe food and a thermometer matter far more than any purchase, and cost almost nothing.
Ask the nurse what precautions your particular plan needs before buying anything. Requirements differ a great deal.Room by room
What to change in each part of the house
- The room they will rest in
- The quietest one, near a toilet, with a fan or cooler that does not blow directly on the bed. Keep water, a bin, tissues, a torch and the phone within arm's reach so nobody has to get up at night for them.
- The bathroom
- The most important room in the house for this. Soap at every basin, a separate clean towel, a mat that does not slide, and a light that works. Falls happen here, and so does most infection spread.
- The kitchen
- A separate chopping board and knife for raw meat and fish, a working fridge, a way to boil and store drinking water, and containers for leftovers. Freshly cooked and hot beats reheated and stored, throughout.
- The route in between
- Clear the floor of wires, loose rugs and clutter, and keep a night light on the path to the toilet. Weak legs plus a dark corridor is how most home injuries during treatment happen.
- A place for medicines
- One shelf, out of the sun, with the written schedule taped beside it and a weekly pill box. Not spread across three rooms, and not in anyone's handbag.
- The fridge door
- The emergency list, the hospital numbers, the cycle dates and the medicine chart. It sounds trivial and it is what a panicking relative actually reads at two in the morning.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistThe weekend before
The four jobs worth doing properly
In order of how much difference they make, not how much effort they take.
Sort out drinking water
Boiled and cooled, or from a filter you trust and clean. One labelled container, refilled daily, kept covered. Waterborne infection during a low-count week is one of the commonest avoidable emergencies here.
Also worth doing
- Clean the water filter and note the date
- Keep a filled bottle by the bed
Set up handwashing everywhere
Soap at every basin, a bottle of sanitiser by the front door, and a rule that visitors and the cook wash on arrival. This does more than any device you can buy, and it applies to the family more than the patient.
Cook and freeze ahead
Plain dal, rice, curd rice, khichdi, soup. Portioned small, dated, ready to heat. On the bad days nobody wants to cook and nobody should have to, and that is when families fall back on food from outside.
Keep it plain
- Less spice and oil than usual
- Small portions, so leftovers are not reheated twice
Write the numbers on the wall
Day-time and night-time hospital numbers, the nearest emergency department, the treating doctor's name, and a line saying the person is on chemotherapy. Photograph it onto every family phone.
!
Put this on the fridge before cycle one
Go to the nearest emergency department the same day, saying clearly that the person is on chemotherapy, for: a fever or shivering uncontrollably · breathlessness or chest pain · nothing staying down · no urine since the morning · bleeding that will not stop · severe stomach pain or a hard swollen stomach · confusion or being very hard to rouse · redness, pain or discharge around a port or line. Do not give paracetamol to bring a temperature down before being seen, and do not wait for morning.
Leave a number, we will call you
One field. No form to fill in, and no charge for the call.
The people, not the house
Organising the household around it
The arrangements that fail are usually about people rather than equipment. Who cooks, who goes to the hospital, who handles the money and who is awake at night all need deciding before the first cycle rather than improvised during it.
Name one person for each job
One who comes to appointments and keeps the file. One who manages medicines. One who handles bills, insurance and paperwork. Jobs that belong to everybody get done by nobody, and that is where the worst mistakes come from.
Decide the visitor rule now
Anyone with a cough, cold, fever or loose motions stays away, and this includes grandchildren. Agreeing it as a household rule before cycle one is far easier than turning a relative away at the door on a bad week.
Plan the transport before you need it
Know how you would get to hospital at two in the morning, whose vehicle it would be, and who has the number of a driver. Families lose hours to this at exactly the moment when hours matter.
Protect the caretaker too
Decide who covers when you are ill, tired or simply need a day. A carer who collapses in cycle three helps nobody, and it is by far the commonest way these arrangements come apart.
Keep a cheap notebook by the bed for temperature, medicines given and anything unusual. It answers most phone questions.Commonly believed
Four things families spend effort on unnecessarily
"We need separate plates, cups and a separate room."
Chemotherapy is not contagious and the patient is not a risk to anyone. The direction of risk runs the other way: the household protects them. Ordinary washing-up is enough, and isolation mostly makes a hard time lonelier.
"An air purifier and a sterilising machine are worth the money."
Handwashing, safe drinking water, freshly cooked food and a working thermometer prevent far more than any appliance. If the budget is limited, spend it on food, transport and a thermometer rather than on devices.
"The house must be kept spotless at all times."
Ordinary clean is the target: the bathroom, the kitchen surfaces and hands. Exhausting the family with deep cleaning every day adds nothing, and the energy is better kept for the week when it is actually needed.
"We will sort things out as they come up."
The problems arrive on the worst night of the cycle, when everyone is tired and frightened. Stocked food, written numbers and an agreed transport plan are worth far more at that moment than any decision made in it.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about getting the home ready
Does the patient need a separate room?
Not usually. A quiet room near a toilet helps with rest, but isolation is rarely required. If counts are expected to fall very low, your team will tell you specifically. Otherwise normal family life is better for everybody.
Do we need separate utensils?
No. Chemotherapy is not passed on through plates or cups, and ordinary washing-up is sufficient. What matters is that food is freshly cooked, served hot, and not kept standing for hours before eating.
What is the single most useful thing to buy?
A reliable digital thermometer, and a second one as a spare. Fever is the warning sign that matters most during a cycle, and a household that cannot measure a temperature accurately is guessing at the worst moment.
Can grandchildren visit?
Yes, when they are well. Keep away any child with a cough, cold, fever or loose motions, and any child recently given a live vaccine until you have checked with the team. Contact matters more than most people realise.
Is it safe to use the same toilet?
Yes, with ordinary care. For a day or two after a cycle, ask everyone to flush with the lid down and to wash hands well. Your nurse will tell you if your particular drugs need anything more than that.
Should we hire a nurse at home?
Most families do not need one. It is worth considering if the patient is frail, lives alone, or has a line that needs care. Ask your team what your situation actually requires before committing to the cost.
What if we live far from the hospital?
Plan the journey in advance, keep the fuel tank filled and a driver's number saved, and ask your team which local hospital to go to at night. Ask also whether blood tests can be done near home between cycles.
How do we manage if the caretaker also works?
Share the load formally rather than informally. Split the jobs between two or three people, cook in batches at the weekend, and ask for early appointment slots so treatment days cost fewer working hours.
Meet the Specialists
17+ senior cancer specialists. One panel for your case.
Trained at AIIMS, Tata Memorial, and leading international centres. Combined 150+ years of experience. Every complex case is reviewed by 3+ of them — together.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
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Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
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Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
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MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
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Dr. Vinay Mamidala
MBBS, MS(General Surgery), M.Ch(Surgical Oncology), FMAS, FARIS(Ongoing)
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Radiation Oncologist
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Hematologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vajja Sandeep Kumar
MBBS, MS (General Surgery), DrNB (Surgical Oncology), FALS Oncology
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Sources
- Cancer Research UK — Coping at home during chemotherapy
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Caring for someone with cancer
- National Cancer Institute — Chemotherapy and You
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
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