Medication Tips

Medication Tips - Information for Patients & Families

Caregivers take precautions when giving chemotherapy at home

You should regard all oral chemo drugs as possible hazards. Be careful when handling these medicines. Try to avoid contact with the skin.

Women who are pregnant or could become pregnant should avoid contact with these drugs.

Please use these precautions to protect both you and your child from harm:

  • Wash your hands before handling the drug.
  • Prepare a clean surface where you can handle the drug safely. Do not choose an area close to where food is prepared. Do not handle the drug under air vents or fans.
  • Use gloves when handling oral chemo drugs.
  • If you are cutting tablets or adding the medicine to food or liquid, your child should always take the oral chemo drug as soon as you prepare it. Do not cut tablets or add to food or liquid unless your pharmacist or doctor tells you it is OK to do so.
  • After your child takes the dose, thoroughly clean the surface where you handled the drug.
  • Always wash your hands after handling any oral chemo drugs, whether your skin makes contact with the drug or not.
  • Any items used with the oral chemo – dosing cups, tablet cutters, spoons – should be washed with warm soapy water and left to dry. Use these items only for oral chemo; do not use them for any other medicines.
  • For liquid chemo medicine, use each oral syringe only once. Then, throw it away in the trash. Do not try to wash and reuse the syringes.
  • Keep all medicines out of the reach of children. Chemo drugs can be very harmful if large amounts are taken at once.

To learn more about how to give oral chemo at home safely, read the new St. Jude handout called “Do You Know… Chemotherapy by Mouth at Home.” If you have questions or concerns about any of your child’s medicines or how to give them, please talk to your child’s doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

(by Shane Cross, PharmD, Pharmaceutical Sciences)


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