Bowel cancer anyone? What to expect and what comes after an op

[FrogsInHeels]

A family member is having an op to remove a tumour (not sure yet whether a stoma will be needed) imminently

I want to send a gift - this is to a person who’s been a foodie all their lives and someone who’s always looked after and nurtured everyone else

I know Chemo will be on the cards too.

If anyone can give me some pointers about what I could buy them- so they know I’m thinking of them.
My default is usually food which wouldn’t work for obvious reasons

My dad read books for the first time in 50 years after his op apart from the ones he read us as kids. Nothing too heavy, nothing touchy feely, nothing with cancer in it was his remit. He also started jigsaws when he was a bit more comfortable and music, games for his iPad.

During his chemo, he was always cold, so "good" socks, comfy slippers. He developed totally different tastes food wise after so we just went with what he wanted and tried to encourage him to eat - as a tip that worked for us - lunchtime was always easier for him to eat at. And toffee type sweets helped him with the taste in his mouth. He developed very dry skin during chemo but the pharmacist sorted him out.

They will most likely be on the bowel cancer diet, which means NO fibre. No brown bread, no pulses, no nuts, no greens, hardly any fruit, no peanut butter or twiglets etc. There's usually a list.

They can have white bread, cheap jam, cornflakes, ice cream, fruit juice -- all the stuff we're not sposed to eat.

Gosh the diet sounds tricky as he is also diabetic 🙈
Love the slippers socks and jigsaw ideas - he’s never read a book in his life 😊
I’m so grateful for advice x

My husband enjoyed sudoku puzzles hen he was recovering from his stoma operation. Also sci fi books were a hit. He was a bit groggy a day or two after the operation as he was under anaesthetic for 9 hours so his tablet with netflix and headphones were good for him if he fancied that while he snoozed or if i wasn't there . Hope all goes well. My husband starts chrmo thursday x

Peppermint teas to help with trapped wind from the op. A comfy pillow, luxury dressing gown, subscription to audible for audio books if he is open to them, magazines might be an option if his concentration suffers from the anaesthetic / chemo. Extra long charging cable for any phone or tablet.

If he will accept, an offer to help with the housework would be invaluable!

Hope all goes well x

My dad opted to go straight for a stoma when he had bowel cancer. Screening relating to a pre existing bowel condition found pre cancerious cells. He chose to wait a few months to loose weight but had several polips by the time they opporated, but didn't need chemo. The op took much longer than anticipated and he needed 28 days in hospital rather than the 5 original quoted.

He appreciated big comfy pants for post op, we did many supermarket runs to track them down as he went through a lot more than expected. He found earring very difficult so appreciated small nice things the nurses could offer him to nibble on. He had lots of mini cheeses. He also like flavoured sparking water brought in and ice cold coke.

He kept his TV card topped up, in hide site we would have brought the longest available subscription rather than adding days on at a time. We brought him a nice pair of head phones with a long lead. He says he would have wanted his tablet now with his bt sports and a subscription to now TV sports. Mobile data sim or dongle for tablet. It's worth checking if the word his likely to be in has good WiFi access or 4/5g. People to download new things if it doesn't.

Dressing gown wasn't used at all in hospital as it was so hot, but his since seen some very thin cotton ones he'd want if he ever need addmititng for more than a couple of days. Plastic slip on sandels for the showers. Nice slippers. Bags that dissolve in the washing machine for soiled clothes.

Water spray to keep cool and fresh, non carbonated cool drinks, Book/Kindle/audiobooks (maybe a voucher). They may be quite sore and immobile at first so anything which keeps things in close reach, supportive cushion or light throw. Dm was on morphine initially and very dozy and disorientated so nothing requiring too much concentration.

Definitely warm cosy things, my friend was so cold during chemo and recovery. The fluffy bed socks were her favourite.

Magazine rather than books as your attention span is rubbish.

My husband had difficulty with his stoma bag and itd leak a lot. The anti bacterial liquid you add to laundry helped us. Also drinks like lucozade sport helped keep the electrolyte count up and stay hydrated (he was admitted for suspected sepsis but turnedout to be severe dehydration and lack of absorption of electrolytes). When leaving the hospital stoma output had to be below a litre , the consultant said gelatine based foods help to solidify it (haribo, fruit pastilles and jelly were staples here)

For a reluctant reader how about a subscription to Audible for a tablet or phone with some headphones. Relaxing and blocks out ward noise. Hope everything goes well OP.

Invaluable advice I thank you so much