South­ern Med­ical Clin­ic has earned a rep­u­ta­tion as pi­o­neers in the field of On­col­o­gy. Hav­ing adopt­ed a mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary ap­proach to can­cer care, we of­fer the most com­pre­hen­sive ser­vices un­der one roof.

Our pa­tients are the fo­cus of all that we do, as we recog­nise that a pos­i­tive ex­pe­ri­ence can make the world of a dif­fer­ence. We go the ex­tra mile to en­sure every pa­tient re­ceives treat­ment of ex­cep­tion­al qual­i­ty in a time­ly man­ner.

Prepar­ing for Chemother­a­py

What do you need to know?

Chemother­a­py is an ef­fec­tive method for treat­ing can­cer. Start­ing chemother­a­py may cause you anx­i­ety, but be­ing pre­pared can help make your life eas­i­er and more com­fort­able as you re­cov­er. Here are some prac­ti­cal ways for prepar­ing for chemother­a­py:

• If you are work­ing, talk to your em­ploy­er about tak­ing time off for your treat­ment. It is hard to pre­dict how chemother­a­py will af­fect you. Dis­cuss the op­tions of flex­i­ble hours, work­ing from home, or tak­ing some leave.

• Vis­it the den­tist be­fore start­ing chemother­a­py. Mouth sores, in­fec­tion and bleed­ing can de­vel­op dur­ing treat­ment and ex­ac­er­bate pre-ex­ist­ing con­di­tions.

• Pack a chemo bag: in­clude warm cloth­ing, healthy snacks, books or de­vices to pass the time. You may wish to take along a small al­bum with pho­tos of your loved ones and favourite places to help build your de­ter­mi­na­tion. Con­sid­er keep­ing a chemo jour­nal to track your treat­ment dates, how much sleep you’re get­ting, what you’re eat­ing and how you’re feel­ing.

• Talk to your treat­ment team about the pos­si­ble side ef­fects. Ask whether you can take med­i­cine to pre­vent nau­sea and vom­it­ing. Buy a ther­mome­ter so you can check your tem­per­a­ture at home. If hair loss is like­ly, think about hav­ing it cut or choos­ing a wig.

• Even though a chemother­a­py ses­sion may last on­ly a few hours, you may feel very tired af­ter it is over. You should ask some­one to dri­ve you home if you feel un­safe be­hind the wheel. Take a nap or re­lax af­ter your treat­ment. Do not plan to go to any events or par­take in stren­u­ous ac­tiv­i­ties.

• Fo­cus on the pos­i­tive. Mak­ing friends with your fel­low pa­tients and join­ing sup­port groups fos­ter to­geth­er­ness and uni­ty.

• Stay healthy and strong be­fore and dur­ing treat­ment. Con­sid­er mak­ing some meals ahead of time and freez­ing them, have ready-to-eat food avail­able. Stay hy­drat­ed and find foods that you can keep down. Go for a walk or en­gage in some form of phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ty.

• Tell your doc­tor and phar­ma­cist about any oth­er med­i­cines you are tak­ing. Some over-the-counter med­i­cines, herbs and vi­t­a­mins can af­fect how chemother­a­py works.

• Trust your doc­tors. Ask ques­tions. Be your own ad­vo­cate.

In­spired by you, built for YOU:

The True­Beam is the most ad­vanced Ra­dio­ther­a­py treat­ment unit in the Caribbean with an un­matched com­bi­na­tion of pre­ci­sion and speed.

• More choic­es for a wider range of can­cer types

• Pa­tient com­fort is sec­ond to none- it op­er­ates qui­et­ly and al­lows for two-way com­mu­ni­ca­tion be­tween pa­tient and ther­a­pist

• Faster de­liv­ery of dosage gives pa­tients their time back

• Spe­cial tech­niques in­clude Stereo­tac­tic Ra­dio­ther­a­py and Res­pi­ra­to­ry Gat­ing

• Min­i­mal side ef­fects and high­er suc­cess rate