Hi Lorra, 

my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer which had spread to the liver in may 2018. He had the same fortnightly regime and did encounter a few hospitals stays during the course of his chemo. 
 

The first point of action during every hospital visit was antibiotics, whether there was a fever or not. This is a precautionary thing I believe to treat for any underlying infection or sepsis whilst they are waiting for results to come back. 
 

one of the hospital stays with my dad was he has an infection possibly in his prostate, but he had no fever, however his bloods were showing there was an infection somewhere in the body but the doctors couldn't find where. 
 

My dad was admitted with severe vomiting and diharrhea about 4 times during his second round of chemo, again not with a fever every time but they still treated him with antibiotics and replacements of electrolytes. It is common for them to treat him for an infection even if he doesn't have a fever. 
 

I send you, your dad and your family lots of best wishes and hope he is home soon! x 

Thank you for replying and I'm sorry to hear you've been through similar with your dad. I'm guessing with the prostrate infection aside the other times your dad was admitted for severe diahrroea and vomiting was it "just" put down to a side effect from the chemo? It's the first time my dads ended up in A&E and knowing he has such a poor prognosis it's a terrifying reality jolt to see him suddenly so poorly. 
Thank you for your best wishes and I send the same back to you x

Thank you so much for your reply. It's incredibly helpful to understand that antibiotics can be given as a precaution to prevent an infection that could be caused by the chemo induced diarrhoea, I hadn't really thought of that and of course it makes complete sense why they would be cautious. Thank you. 

My dad was admitted with vomiting/diharrhea approx 3 times and then once with the prostate infection and another time with pneumonia. Each time was different but every admission was put down to a side effect from the chemo, even the infections, because if he wasn't undergoing the chemo the likelihood is that he wouldn't have contracted the infections, it is likely the infections came on because his immune system was so low. 
 

the chemo can be a really rough time for them and it can be really hard. My dad was told he would have approximately 6 months without chemo and some years with, it has been 21 months now and the chemo has now stopped working and the cancer has begun to spread so he has been passed to palliative care. He does however have a much better quality of life now he's not on the chemo, although not much time left. the chemo is great at giving more time if it is not causing too many problems.

i hope your dad gets home and out of the hospital soon x  

I'm so sorry to hear your dad is now in palliative care. We were also told my dad had months left to live without chemo but possibly years with it. No amount of time is ever enough time. It's such a horrible disease and gruelling treatment. I'm pleased to hear your dad has a good quality of life now and I hope you both get to enjoy your time together for as long as possible. Thank you for answering my questions I must sound very naive. I just feel a bit lost, everything seems to be happening so quickly and I desperately just want to try and make sense of it all. I probably really want someone to tell me what's going to happen and reassure we're doing all the right things but I know that crystal balls aren't really an option - perhaps for the best! Take care of yourself and I wish your family all the very best x