Abstract Purpose. To identify symptoms/distress among patients with colorectal cancer, from the viewpoint of the next of kin, before and after chemotherapy, and to establish whether there are any barriers to reporting these.   Methods. Individual face-to-face interviews with fourteen next of kin were conducted. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the transcripts.  Results. Three areas were identified: symptoms presented, influences on life for the next of kin, and barriers to reporting symptoms/distress. Nine symptoms were raised as most common by the next of kin. All next of kin talked to a large extent about how the patient’s disease and treatment affected them. It affected them psychologically, they had to revaluate their life, and it influenced their social life. Almost all next of kin denied that they experienced any barriers to reporting symptoms/distress though they mentioned the lack of properly communication and lack of time. Conclusions. Although it was not the main purpose of the study, the next of kin raised concerns about the patient’s disease and treatment and how it influenced their life. They mentioned barriers to reporting symptoms, but not to a large extent. The symptoms reported before and during chemotherapy were similar to those found in other studies.