Chemo Supplies: A Prep List

Starting chemotherapy is a big deal in so many ways. It’s terrifying, it’s anxiety-provoking, but it’s also exciting in a scary way. You have no idea what to expect but you know it’s the first step in this phase of your survivorship journey.

As a type A person, I had been carrying a notebook with my daily, jotting down cancer-related questions or learnings on the fly. I had a running list for each doctor plus a list for a few friends who had been through this before me.

One of the lists I ended up creating was an “Infusion Day Go Bag” list. I began this a few weeks prior to chemo as I started learning what I would need to ensure the best possible outcome.

Here’s my list; keep in mind this is specific to Breast Cancer and yours may differ depending upon your type of chemo and your personal needs.

  • Take any necessary morning meds before going to infusion (in my case an oncology pharmacist called me in advance to talk through which meds I’d take and which ones I’d pause for chemo)

  • Many people put lidocaine on their port an hour in advance to numb it. I never did, but it goes on the list.

  • Cold cap bag (includes cold cap itself and toiletries to help with putting it on. If you are cold capping be sure to arrange this in advance as these differ widely in how you use them. And practice putting it on twice in advance)

  • A long scarf you don’t care about in case you need to tighten the cold cap from your head to your chin.

  • Cold mittens and booties (similar to cold cap, but here they prevent the chemo from causing neuropathy. See links below. And get extra ice packs to switch out if you have a long session)

  • Medium sized cooler with ice packs for keeping extra ice packs cool

  • Ice Popsicles (to ice the inside of your mouth. I learned this one the hard way and got terrible mouth sores after the first chemo. It’s the same concept as cold cap and booties- protect your mouth lining! I made popsicles of ice or electrolyte water. Some nurses will bring you ice to chew on if you ask, too)

  • Heating blanket (to keep the rest of your body warm)

  • Readers if needed (my glasses sides did not fit over my cold cap but readers had more “spring” to them)

  • Books or kindle or iPad if desired

  • Cheap stylus with rubber end (to use for iPad and turning book pages when you have mittens on)

  • Air pods or headphones

  • Chargers

  • Journal and pen

  • Water bottle with electrolytes (I love LMNT, see below for discount link)

  • Snacks (the infusion center only had crackers and juice- I was on my FMD so I brought a thermos of soup or friends got me green juices)

  • Wear comfy clothes (I wore the same v-neck tee each time and plan to burn it in celebration at my last infusion! I also wore a cozy wrap sweater given to me by a friend who went through chemo herself. And wear a bra that makes it easy to access your port)

  • Change of clothes- just in case

  • Easy slip on shoes (in case you need to remove booties and use the restroom. I had fuzzy birks)

  • Beanie for post chemo (wore this after I started losing some hair- the bamboo snood from headcovera was really soft and cozy)

  • A basket or small open container where you can put all of the things you want to easily reach- and this can sit on the side table of your infusion chair. Mine contained iPad, phone, water bottle, stylus, pen, journal, and a snack.

  • Snacks for the infusion nurses. You don’t need to do this but they have a tough job and are often understaffed so I’d bring a box of donuts or bao or energy bars most times.

Most of these things I kept together as a “Go Bag” and after the second round it was like clockwork.

Supplies referenced above:

This poor v-neck tee has been pulled in every which way. But it was easy to access the port for my infusion.

Ice mittens make it very hard to do anything. But I never got neuropathy in my hands, so they worked.

Ice booties are thé worst. I hate cold feet even more than I disliked the cold cap. But I kept them on most of the time. I did experience some neuropathy towards the end of my rounds of chemo, and then became a little more rigorous in keeping them on during treatment.