Meghan, a 7-year-old with a brain tumor, recently received cisplatin and has ongoing nausea and vomiting five days later. Which statement is most likely true?

• A. She does not want to return to school
• B. Her hemoglobin may be low
• C. She is experiencing delayed N/V
• D. The brain tumor has increased in size

Answer: (C)

Delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting is the key idea. Cisplatin is highly emetogenic, and its strongest N/V pattern in children often starts after the first 24 hours and can last several days. Meghan’s nausea and vomiting five days after receiving cisplatin fit this delayed phase, making it the most likely explanation for her ongoing symptoms. Acute N/V would have appeared within the first day, anemia would present with signs like fatigue and pallor rather than persistent vomiting, and tumor progression would usually show broader neurologic or systemic changes rather than a focused late-onset nausea pattern. So the timing points to delayed N/V as the best explanation.