What to Expect During Chemotherapy Treatment
Updated on February 6, 2026
If you’ve never had chemotherapy before, you may be nervous about your first treatment and wonder if it will be painful or if you’ll feel sick immediately. Understanding the process and knowing what to expect can help you prepare and make everything go as smoothly as possible.
How chemotherapy is given
Chemotherapy medicines come in many forms and can be given in a number of ways, depending on the breast cancer's location, stage, and characteristics.
Intravenously (IV)
Intravenously, also called an IV, is a common way to receive chemotherapy for breast cancer. The medicine is delivered directly into your bloodstream through an IV needle — also called a butterfly needle or catheter needle (a very thin tube with a retractable needle attached) — inserted into a vein in your hand or lower arm.
Through a port or catheter
Receiving chemotherapy through a port or catheter is also very common during breast cancer treatment.
Orally
Some chemotherapy medicines are available as pills or capsules that you can take by mouth.
What does chemotherapy feel like?
Many people ask if chemotherapy is painful. Receiving chemotherapy as an infusion through an IV, port, or catheter shouldn’t hurt. Some people say that certain medicines burn when they start to flow into your body, but that sensation goes away fairly quickly.
If you do feel pain while receiving an infusion, tell a nurse right away. It could be a leak in your IV line, which is allowing the drug or drugs to flow into nearby tissues instead of your vein.
It’s common to feel fine during and right after a chemotherapy infusion. Most people say they feel the worst the day after chemotherapy. Chemotherapy side effects often include fatigue, nausea, and diarrhea.
Chemotherapy affects people in different ways. Two people receiving the same medicines may have completely different side effects. How you feel depends on:
the medicines you’re receiving
the medicines’ doses
how many rounds of chemotherapy you receive
the breast cancer’s characteristics
your general health before chemotherapy starts and any other medical conditions you may have
How long does chemotherapy take?
A chemotherapy infusion can take as little as a few minutes to several hours from start to finish, depending on the regimen of drugs you’re receiving.
If your regimen includes an infusion and an oral medicine, you may get the infusion at a facility and take the pill or capsule at home before or after.
Chemotherapy cycles
Chemotherapy usually is given in cycles — a period of treatment followed by a period of recovery. For instance, a cycle may include:
chemotherapy on the first day and then two or three weeks of recovery with no treatment
chemotherapy for several days in a row, or every other day, and then a recovery period
chemotherapy once a week for two or three weeks, followed by two weeks of recovery
A complete chemotherapy treatment regimen is made up of several cycles. The number of cycles in a regimen and the total time it takes to complete one regimen depends on the chemotherapy medicines you receive. Most regimens for early-stage breast cancer take three to six months to complete. A regimen for advanced-stage breast cancer may take longer to complete.
Does-dense chemotherapy
In some cases, doctors may recommend a dose-dense chemotherapy regimen. Dose-dense chemotherapy means there is less time between cycles — instead of receiving chemo every three weeks you receive it every two weeks. Doctors usually recommend dose-dense regimens for breast cancer that is aggressive or has a high risk of recurrence.
Your first chemotherapy treatment
Together, you and your doctor choose a chemotherapy treatment plan that is tailored to your unique situation.
You may receive chemotherapy during a hospital stay, at a doctor’s office, at an infusion center, or at a hospital.
It’s most common to get chemotherapy as an infusion, so the general steps are summarized below.
Before the chemotherapy treatment
You meet with your oncologist. Your doctor looks at your medical records — including the results of any tests and imaging you’ve had — and does a physical exam.
Your doctor recommends a chemotherapy regimen and explains how long each cycle lasts, as well as the regimen’s benefits and side effects.
A member of your healthcare team also reviews the treatment consent form with you before asking you to sign it.
Your healthcare team also lets you know if there are any foods or other medicines or supplements you should avoid while receiving chemotherapy. It’s very important to tell your healthcare team about all the other prescription medicines, non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and supplements you take. Certain medicines, vitamins, and supplements can interact with chemotherapy medicines, making them stronger or weaker.
At this appointment, you’ll likely schedule your first chemotherapy treatment.
On the first day of chemotherapy
Depending on the specific chemotherapy regimen you’re receiving, the first infusion may take longer than infusions after that.
Many people prefer to have someone with them while they’re receiving chemotherapy.It’s a good idea to check with the facility about any restrictions they may have. Because most people receiving chemotherapy have weakened immune systems, many infusion centers require everyone to wear a surgical mask while inside. In many cases, chemotherapy can make you very tired, so you may need someone to drive you home. If your ride can’t stay with you for the whole infusion process, they can pick you up when your treatment is done.
No matter where you receive an infusion, you can expect to do the following on the days you have chemotherapy:
Check in where you’re receiving treatment, just as you sign in for a doctor’s appointment.
Meet the healthcare professional who is going to give you the chemotherapy treatment.
Have your blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and breathing checked.
Have your height and weight recorded; these measurements are used to calculate the correct dose of medicine.
Have an IV put in if you don’t already have a catheter or port. The chemotherapy medicines are given through the IV. If you have a port or catheter, you usually don’t need an IV.
Have a blood sample taken through the IV, port, or catheter so your doctor can review your blood count.
Your doctor examines you and goes over all the information the healthcare team has collected before your chemotherapy session begins. Your doctor then calculates and orders the amount of medicine needed for your treatment.
You may get some medicine before the chemotherapy medicine — called pre-chemotherapy medicine — to prevent nausea or an allergic reaction. These pre-chemotherapy medicines may be in pill form or you may receive them through the IV or port; they usually only take a few minutes. You also may be given fluids, which help certain chemotherapy medicines work better.
Before you receive chemotherapy, the healthcare professional who starts the infusion process double-checks your name, the name of the medicine, and the medicine’s dose.
The healthcare professional then starts the infusion process, which can take up to several hours. Depending on your regimen, you may receive other medicines, like the targeted therapies Herceptin and Perjeta, either before or along with the chemotherapy medicines.
When the chemotherapy session is complete, the healthcare professional takes out the IV and makes sure your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing are stable.
Either your doctor or nurse again goes over any side effects you might expect to have and how to manage them, and gives you medicine to ease nausea if you need it. You’re asked to contact your doctor if you have any severe side effects — such as fever, diarrhea, or nausea — that continue even after you take medicine for them. Make sure you know how to reach your doctor before you leave, just in case you have a problem.
Chemotherapy tips from the Breastcancer.org Community
The Breastcancer.org Community has several forums on receiving chemotherapy, chemo side effects, and specific chemo drugs. Members who’ve been through chemotherapy have a number of helpful tips for making the process before, during, and after chemotherapy as comfortable as possible.
Before you start chemotherapy
Many people say chemotherapy can make it hard for them to keep up their daily routines. Here are some things you may want to consider doing before starting chemotherapy.
Have routine medical tests and procedures
These tests may include heart function tests recommended by your doctor, a pelvic exam and Pap smear; a prostate exam; and a complete dental checkup, including having your teeth cleaned. The bacteria in your mouth can get into your bloodstream during teeth cleaning or other dental procedures. Since chemotherapy weakens your immune system, you may be more susceptible to infection. So many doctors recommend having any dental work done before chemotherapy starts.
Plan for help at home
It’s very common to feel tired for a day or more after having chemotherapy. Although it can be hard to ask for and accept help, many people find assistance with chores, including cooking, cleaning, and ferrying children to appointments, practices, and events makes life calmer and less stressful. Very often, friends and family really want to help but aren’t sure how. Helping around the house is something tangible they can do. You may want to start a blog or CaringBridge site to keep your friends and family updated and organize help.
Consider how your fertility might be affected
Talk to your doctor about any fertility concerns you may have. If you’re a pre-menopausal woman or man and would like to have children after completing chemotherapy, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about ways you can preserve your fertility before starting treatment. For example, there is medicine that stops the ovaries from functioning, which may help protect the eggs. Eggs, sperm, and embryos also may be frozen for future fertility treatments.
Ask about foods and supplements to avoid
Talk to your doctor or a dietitian about any foods, medicines, vitamins, and supplements you should avoid while you’re receiving chemotherapy. At the same time, ask if there are certain foods you should be eating to help your immune system stay as healthy as possible. If your appetite changes during chemotherapy, you can ask how to make food more appealing.
Learn about side effects and how to treat them
Talk to your doctor about hair loss. Most chemotherapy medicines cause some hair loss or thinning. Besides the hair on your head, chemotherapy also affects the hair on your arms, legs, face, nose, and pubic area. If you plan to buy a wig, you may want to shop for it before you start chemotherapy so you can match your hair color and style. You also may want to check whether your chemotherapy center offers a scalp cooling system or cold caps. You wear these tight-fitting, helmet-like hats filled with a cold gel or liquid during chemotherapy infusions. These devices have helped many people keep some or quite a bit of their hair during chemotherapy treatment.
It’s also a good idea to ask your doctor about peripheral neuropathy, a common side effect of taxane chemotherapy. Peripheral neuropathy is damage to one or more peripheral nerves — the nerves that go to your arms, hands, feet, and legs. This damage can cause tingling, numbness, and pain in the affected areas. Research suggests that cold gloves and socks can help reduce the risk of neuropathy from chemotherapy.
Ask your doctor about other possible side effects and how to ease them. If the chemotherapy medicine you receive causes nausea or diarrhea, your doctor can prescribe medicine to ease these side effects ahead of time so you have them on hand as soon as you need them. In some cases, your doctor may recommend you take anti-nausea or anti-diarrhea medicines preventively, before each infusion. Your doctor also may recommend regular, gentle exercise to help ease side effects.
Managing work and chemotherapy
Think about how to coordinate chemotherapy treatment with your work schedule. Your ability to work depends on the type of job you have. If your job allows it, you may want to see if you can work part-time or from home on days you don’t feel well. Many employers are required by law to change your work schedule to meet your needs during cancer treatment. Triage Cancer has webinars, videos, and other information on working through treatment.
During chemotherapy
An infusion can take several hours. To pass the time, people in the Breastcancer.org Community recommend bringing a book — either in print or an audio book — or movies, podcasts, or music you’ve downloaded to your phone or other portable player. Don’t forget your headphones or earbuds.
Other things you can do are:
play video games on a portable player
crosswords or other puzzles
knitting, needlepoint, or other crafts
draw in a sketchbook
write notes, letters, or cards
listen to a relaxation or meditation app on your phone
write in a journal
People also recommend wearing comfortable shoes and stretchy clothing with an elastic waist. Many people find wearing a cozy sweater and bringing a blanket or wrap is helpful because they get cold during chemotherapy. This is especially true if you’re using scalp cooling to help preserve your hair and cold gloves and socks to help prevent neuropathy.
It’s also a good idea to bring a refillable water bottle with you and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
How you know chemotherapy is working
During chemotherapy treatment, you see your doctor often. At these visits, you are likely to have physical exams, blood tests, and imaging tests. The results of all these tests let your doctor know how well your body is responding to the chemotherapy.
It’s very important to remember that you can’t tell how well chemotherapy is working based on side effects. Side effects have nothing to do with how well chemotherapy treatment is working.
