Things to put in a hospital care box for a 40 yr old man?

[wheresmymojo]

We have a friend who has been very ill with cancer/chemo.

He's just been taken into hospital with a blood infection, will likely need agents replacing and has had to stop chemo for the time being.

He's single, early 40's....any good ideas for what to put in a care box?

So far I have only got:

• Magazines
• Grapes

That seems a bit crap but the other things I would put in for a woman probably won't be right for a guy.

Thoughts?

Bottle of squash
A few bars of chocolate
Body Spray

Ask him if he needs anything like slippers, shaving bits, deodorant, toothpaste etc

When I was in hospital I wish I had had earplugs with me and more flannels/face cloths.

Portable phone charger is often a godsend in hospital

Mints.
Notebook and pen
Puzzle book
Sweets
Lip salve

Decent disposable razor if he’s clean shaven, if he doesn’t need them he could give them to ward supplies. Hospital razors are seriously rubbish.
A couple of Tupperwares to keep his locker tidy or sweeties in a tin rather than a packet which will spill, everywhere.

Unscented hand cream and lip salve.
foam ear plugs.

yup puzzle book and pen, lip salve def. some sort of plain moisturiser for dry skin, small pack of baby wipes or wash wipes to freshen up, ear plugs!! Headphones - small variety to use with phone etc to drown out snorers etc, books - find out what sort he likes. Long charger lead for phone, generally they are too short when in hospital to use whiile on bed so they end up in random places. Energy bars, boiled sweets, preprepared fruit - so melon etc small packs tho, tissues, those tiny squash squeezes are good as they don't take up alot of room in a table, travel wash stuff

hand sanitizer as well

I'd put a couple of good books in there as well as magazines.

Slippers

Ear plugs

Mints and boiled sweets

Decent ear plugs - BioEars are the best I've ever found (I'm a night shift worker)
Things to keep him occupied - does he own a kindle/ipad? If not, decent books (if he's a reader) magazines, sudoku, crosswords etc?
Nice things to drink, squash, lemonade whatever he likes to drink.
As PP said, decent toiletries. Hospital razors are the pits! Deodorant, nice flannels, nice soap etc.

Thanks everyone - just caught up now I'm back from work.

Some good ideas 💡

Eye mask - it's never dark enough at night.

Voucher for the tv (our local hospital charges to use it)

If the hospital has wifi - lending him a spare tablet (even better if it has a sky/netflix/prime video account) is an absolute godsend - you can access tv, radio, films, internet, sport, music, books

Perfect time of year to pick up some ridiculous annuals!
Might make him laugh anyway

Yes to what @wineoclockthanks said about an eye mask - it's never dark enough for sleep good idea.

I'd give the grapes a miss in case he's not allowed them, my husband is in the same situation and isn't allowed fresh fruit or vegetables, it all has to be peeled or thoroughly cooked.

Things I've been taking in regularly for him are those little packs of sealed fruit salad (the multi pack long life ones) and jellies - and spoons! Roasted nuts, crisps, individual packs of popcorn, snack bars - the nature valley protein ones are good.

Eye mask, ear plugs and lip balm are an absolute definite. After much trial and error, the best lip balm for chemo-ruined lips is Blistex Intensive Moisturizer. A good skin moisturizer like aveeno is good too if his regime is likely to affect the rest of his skin, and a gentle shampoo for his hair - we switched my husband onto Child's Farm to protect what little hair he had left.

Warm bed socks is a good idea, and a beanie hat or two if he's lost his hair.

Baby wipes in case he can't get up to wash every day.

If he doesn't have anyone to do his laundry the best thing you could do would be to offer to do that and return it regularly including his towels, it must be so hard for single people to cope if they're in for a long stay otherwise.

Do feel free to PM me if you need any further advice or support. I've learnt more about blood cancer than I ever thought possible over the last 3 months

Toothpaste; deodorant; biscuits (if diet allows); puzzle mags; a power bank (to go with the excellent idea of the phone charger); notepad and pens; brilliant idea whoever suggested loaning the Kindle/tablet, many hospitals have free patient Wifi now; haribo; socks/gloves/hat (it can get chilly at night); bottle of squash; little pots of jelly/custard/Alpro etc (but you might want to check with the nurses just in case they're not allowed on his treatment); pack of cards (he can always play patience as a break from the screen).

And if he's a big reader and doesn't mind the classics, there are masses of free books on Project Gutenberg, plus some on Amazon (search for a genre or title and sort by price - they'll come up as £0.00). There are also a few websites with "Kindle Free Books" and things too, which change quite regularly, and audio books.

And if he wants to watch something that isn't a box set or similar then TED talks on YouTube are great.