Gift Ideas for a Cancer Patient

When news of a cancer diagnosis rears its ugly head, an initial reaction may be to think of how you can help that person and provide them some kind of comfort. First of all I’ll say that thoughtful messages and support throughout the treatment process are priceless and also very cheap to share with the patient. Definitely go with that “gift” over anything.

As I tried to go through what products or tools I would need in the beginning, who really knew what I needed? I’d barely had time to think and there’s so much to even consider from the hospital materials, advice from friends and family, googling, and youtube. Everyone has an answer, but there’s just so. much. information.

From the start (very fortunately), the inquiries for what we needed outnumbered everything that we were able to brainstorm; we hadn’t quite grasped what was going on and the future at that point was a big question mark. I feel horrible and like a brat for saying this, but I was overwhelmed with the questions and offers. I don’t like not having an answer for someone, and it was almost stressful because it just reinforced that I was very clueless about cancer and what I was doing.

Once I prioritized what to get based on suggestions from the doctors and those that have or are going through this, I made lots of lists and got down to online shopping (yay Amazon!) and received a lot of help from others. Eventually creating an Amazon wish list made things a lot easier and cut down on the amount of messages I was handling. *I can’t thank my family and J enough for helping with the many other messages that I know were floating around. Also to those who helped knock things off of the list and sent their well wishes!* I’d never used the wish list function before, but it was straight forward – just remember to change the default setting so that anything purchased is removed from the list.

This lists below are more focused on some gifts with more utility vs entertainment. Believe me, stuff like the coloring books of swear words are very necessary for one’s own sanity, but the following might be necessary just to get through some daily tasks.

If the patient’s list is all taken care of, then my advice is to make a donation in their name or get creative! Some out of the box gifts might be Lyft/Uber gift cards to get between appointments or skip public transportation (AH germs!), meal prep, cleaning, volunteering to join the patient for an appointment or infusion, food delivery gift certificate (Instacart, DoorDash, UberEats, etc), picking up a meal and hang out, or consider a sleepover at home or the hospital to give another caretaker a break. In the end, companionship and thoughtfulness are what resonate so don’t worry about the perfect gift, but hopefully these give you some ideas if you want to go above and beyond.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any other ideas!

Helpful at the Hospital

• Eye mask
• Luggage on wheels
• Slippers
• Light pajama pants or shorts
• Stuffed animal, blanket, etc
• Travel size hand lotion, chapstick, and face/body wipes
• Extra long cord for charging cell phone
• Peroxyl & Biotene mouthwash
• Extension cord in case there aren’t convenient plugs

The list is relatively self-explanatory. At the hospital, the beds and pillows are basically plastic/rubber. They don’t breathe at all! I have yet to really get a chill or be cold in there so light shorts and pants are much more comfortable than typical sweat pants. The stuffed animal, blanket, or creature comfort item wasn’t something I needed at the start, but I enjoy my little dolphin stuffed animal some girlfriends got me. Late at night… in a room that isn’t yours… in a bed that isn’t yours… in clothes that aren’t yours… it is comforting to have something familiar for you to touch. J may be there with me in my hospital room, but he isn’t within arm’s reach with how the guest bed situation is laid out. The mouthwashes are kind of specific to the chemo treatment I’m on even though mouth sores are a pretty common side effect of a lot of regimens. By swishing these at least in the morning and night you can hopefully avoid that pain. My uncle gave me the advice of starting those the day before chemo and then every day until treatment is done and the chemo is flushed out of your system.

Helpful at Home

On top of using the items above, the following helped me out at home

• PICC line cover for the shower
• Hats
• Light blanket
• Comfy blanket
• Shirts, sweaters, jackets with wide arms (to fit PICC and open for blood draws)
• Motion-activated night light

The line cover is the biggest game changer for me. For a while I needed J to help me prepare for every single shower by wrapping my arm to make sure the dressing around my PICC line wouldn’t get wet. A very generous cancer survivor who no longer had a PICC line passed their cover along to a nurse who then gave it to me. It’s the exact same model as the one linked above and it sounds maybe a little silly, but it is a game changer to just be able to shower when you want. It’s crazy how something as simple as that makes such a difference.

Once baldness or fuzziness sets in (after Round 1 for me) then temperature control becomes a focus. I never appreciated how much work my hair did for me blocking the sun or keeping my head warm in drafty A/C. Now I have a variety of hats for different settings/restaurants, but I mostly just go for it and go bald. I have tried scarves, but can’t get the look to work for me, and wigs can be a lot of hassle from what I’ve been told. Sleeping was a trickier situation to figure out since we like it pretty cold in our room. I needed to figure out something for my head that would address the fan we have running, but not make me too hot and interrupt my oh so precious shut eye like the light hats did. One trick I accidentally stumbled upon is to keep a light blanket (kind of like a fleece airline blanket) atop my pillow. It blocks the top of my head, stays put against the pillow and bed frame, but allows a good portion of my head to breathe. Plus, I can move around without a hat getting tangled or falling off and double as an eye mask.

It took a long time for me to get over using a night light when I was younger, but it’s back! With all of the fluid retention, and the large amount of water that I try to drink to flush out my body, I am going to the bathroom at least a couple times each night. I got a motion sensor night light recently figuring it was far better than turning on the bright lights every time, which might make it harder to fall back asleep. So far, both J and I have loved the change and even after treatment that thing is probably going to stay put.

Other things to consider:

– Is anyone home to get the packages if you’re shipping the gift?

– Do you have the most up to date address?

– Always include your name and receipts with gifts you share

– A port pillow is a popular gift for patients that have ports. They’re also easy to sew yourself from the looks of it

– If the gift isn’t a necessity, consider holding off on sending it until later in the treatment so the surprises keep on comin’