What can I expect when my mother is receiving chemotherapy?

A fellow caregiver asked...

My mother is going to receive chemotherapy for a tumor in origin in the gyn tract and is cancer stage 4. What can I expect after this begins?

Expert Answer

Senior Editor Melanie Haiken, who is responsible for Caring.com's coverage of cancer, general health, and family finance, discovered how important it is to provide accurate, targeted, usable health information to people facing difficult decisions.

Your mother is receiving chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells that have spread to other areas of her body from the original tumor. (The fact that your mother's cancer is stage IV means that the cancer has spread.) Read more about what to expect from chemotherapy and cancer treatment here.

The main thing to know is that chemotherapy is a lengthy process, and your mother will go through many ups and downs along the way. Make sure you develop a good relationship with your mother's oncologist and medical staff, so that you have people available to answer your questions when they come up.