Make sure to start chemotherapy treatment on a Monday. This way if you have symptoms of chemotoxicity within the first 5 days of the week you can easily reach your oncologist and your care at the hospital will be much more efficient. During the weekends many specialists are gone and if you go to the hospital with full blown chemotoxicity you may lose precious days getting the proper care because you couldn't get in touch with your oncologist to properly diagnose you. Obviously, some patients can't afford to wait to start chemo given their stage of cancer, but if you can wait a few days to begin treatment, emphasize starting on a Monday.
You have to be an advocate for yourself or your loved ones. There were many times when the nurses and doctors got annoyed with us for asking so many questions, but at the end of the day my dad and I caught multiple mistakes that could have really hurt my mother. You have to realize that the healthcare workers have many patients and their own personal issues. There is nothing wrong with double checking before they do something or asking questions.
You need to listen to yourself or the person your caring for. My mother for example had a very high pain tolerance and my father and I both knew this. When my mother was complaining of her discomfort while on chemo, we should have realized that this was more than just normal chemo reaction given her pain threshold.
The first priority needs to be managing symptoms. If symptoms are not resolving then no matter what the doctors or nurses say fight to get the best care possible and stay monitored. We got sent home from the hospital many times because they declared my mom to be stable when, if she had stayed one more day under care they would have been able to diagnose her much sooner. That brings me to another point, IV fluids. IV fluids can make symptoms go away when in reality it's just a temporary fix. Make sure to take this into account when understanding symptoms.