Nausea and vomiting

No, it is common for children to feel or be sick at this stage.

There are many reasons why your child may feel sick.
It may be for an obvious reason:

Some medicines may make your child feel sick
Coughing, especially if producing thick phlegm, may make your child retch
Children may feel sick if they are constipated
It may be due to the position of the tumour
Vomiting is occasionally due to a blockage in the bowel (intestines)
Vomiting or nausea may be due to abnormally high or low levels of certain chemicals in the blood (such as Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphate)
Some children feel sick with sudden movements, like travelling in a car, also known as motion sickness
Sometimes the cause is unknown

There are a number of things you can do to help.

A change of position may help
Fresh air often helps – sitting by an open window or near a fan
Your child will feel more sick if he or she is anxious; you may be able to help by distraction, such as watching a favourite video or playing a game, or using some of the sections in the section on relaxation techniques (see page 55)
Cooking smells can make nausea worse – try to keep cooking smells away from your child
The sight of a large meal can also make nausea worse: try serving smaller meals or snacks; these look less daunting on a small plate. It may help your child if they can eat on their own

Your nurse or doctor will try to work out what is causing the sickness but it is not always possible to find a cause
Sickness can still be treated even if the cause cannot be found
It may not always be possible to completely stop your child from feeling sick or being sick. But it should be possible to reduce the number of times your child is sick and to reduce the feeling of sickness
If your child is very anxious, your doctor may ask the play therapist to work with them

There are many anti-sickness medicines which work in different ways
If your child has had chemotherapy or radiotherapy, he or she may have had some anti-sickness medicines, but these medicines are often less effective when the sickness is not caused by chemotherapy
If your child is constipated, this may be causing sickness or making it worse. It is important to treat the constipation
If your child has a blocked bowel, medicines can be given to reduce the sickness and to reduce the amount of fluid in the stomach
If medicine is causing the sickness, your doctor may be able to change it
Morphine may make your child feel sick for a few days after starting it: this can be controlled with medicine but the sickness effect will wear off after a few days
If movement causes your child to feel sick, travel bands may help

Anti-sickness medicines come in different forms
Tablets and liquids may be easy if your child can swallow and keep them down
Suppositories can be used even if a child is vomiting a lot, but they don’t suit everyone
Continuous pump: anti-sickness medicines can be given continuously via a subcutaneous cannula (this goes just under the skin) or may be given via your child’s central line
Patches: some medicines are available as a patch which goes on the skin