Gift for someone starting radiotherapy

[avonova]

My mum has found out she's to have 5 weeks of radiotherapy treatment and I was wondering what sort of items she may find helpful or comforting? If anyone has any experience of this and any suggestions that would be great. Thank you x

Our cousin's partner had radiotherapy 2yrs ago. We collected moisturising face wipes, face serum, natural flavoured pastilles and a golf colouring book & pens (his hobby). They were so grateful. Went down a treat. It was suggested on a mn thread, so thankyou.
Hope your mum gets on well? 🌻

Undergoing cancer treatment myself, I would say something unrelated. Is it once a week or every day for the five weeks? Personally in that situation I would have liked something after each session or each block to mark getting through it rather than a one-off thing. Depending on what she likes & how she's feeling, maybe mini pampering treatments, a craft course or craft things to make, going out somewhere different for tea/cocktail/mocktail, things to wear/jewellery, special treats to eat she wouldn't normally have, etc

Thanks for suggestions. Unfortunately she is also basically bed ridden with a blood clot / swollen leg and can't walk further than a few steps. So not able to go out easily. She is going to be having radiotherapy every single day for 5 weeks. I like the idea of something to tick off / complete after each appointment

Aveeno cream. Got me through. The actual appointments don't last long but there is a lot of manhandling to put you in the exact spot. Rooms can be cold so maybe something snuggly

I had the same treatment as your Mum in 2019 - 5 weeks of daily radiotherapy. I drove myself to and from the hospital five days a week and by Wednesday I was starting to feel tired and by the last two days I was exhausted by the time I got home. So be prepared for your Mum to be feeling like this as the week progresses, I used to sleep a lot over the weekend to recover.

I would definitely take something to pass the time, like a book, colouring book, word puzzle in case of delays at the hospital, along with water or a flask with a hot drink which she can have after the treatment. I also used to feel hungry and cold afterwards (it was during NovDec) and would have loved to have come hope to a warming nutritious meal ready for me, so don't discount this for your Mum. Just offering some practical TLC and making sure she feels supported and cared for will go a long way.

Good luck to your Mum and hope all goes well for her

A lovely scented candle, I'm going through immunotherapy treatment (which is really nothing in comparison to radiotherapy I'm sure) but my sister in law bought me an expensive candle and I love the routine of getting into bed after a treatment and lighting it, the smell gives me great comfort.

Random suggestion but if the treatment is going to be for 25 days, could you get her the least Christmassy advent calendar you can find and she opens a window at the end of each day. There are so many these days - chocolate, tea, popcorn, gin, beauty - and it would give her a sense of moving through the days.

Some great ideas and thanks for your kind words. Love the advent calendar idea. I've offered practical help with lifts to hospital, helping my dad with cooking and cleaning but they've refused any help. They live 2 hours away from me so prob why they've said no. It's not easy for me to pop by although I am going to go up there soon without the kids as I want to see them both and help in any way I can whilst I'm there. I wish they lived closer 😞

The advent calendar idea is good.
I had radiotherapy every day for five weeks and apart from the skin breaking down it was just tiring.
If you can batch cook at home/when you visit/send some healthy ready meals that would have been the best for me.
When I finished I was sent a takeaway and bunch of flowers. Was very much appreciated.
If it's external rather than internal radiotherapy food/stomach should be fine.

I went through 5 weeks of radiotherapy earlier in the year and it was fairly exhausting. One of the nicest presents I received was a thick snuggly blanket and an 'easy reading' book. Someone also gifted us a hello fresh voucher which was lovely because it made meals a bit easier for a few weeks.

This is really important

Please don't buy any creams

They can interfere with the radiotherapy field and she will be advised by the team which creams are ok to use.

Also meant to say - I had pelvic radiotherapy which messed my stomach up from day one so treats and stuff weren't really ideal at the point. But depends which part of her body it's targeting.

I have just finished Radiotherapy - how about some Aveeno as that helps to alieviate the sore bits, and also some nice sweets to put in the car to have whilst she is driving there/home. Some scented disposable heated eye masks have been amazing for helping me get off to sleep when I have got back home from treatment. They are available from Amazon - I hope all goes well X

Thanks all. @CourgetteSeason her radiotherapy is to target pelvic area, does it make you feel sick/ have a bad stomach? 😣

@avonova yes I'm afraid to say it did. They started me on cyclizine to combat the nausea but that made me so drowsy. So I switched to ondansetron which was like a miracle drug for my nausea and got me through the treatment. I quickly found that certain foods caused ahem unwelcome side effects in other areas so I stuck with plain boring stuff for a while.

Now you have said your Mum is having radiotherapy on her pelvic area then I second what @CourgetteSeason says about certain foods and the nausea. And the effects lasted for a few weeks after the end of the treatment. I started to carry peppermints or any mint sweets which helped with the nausea and once home ginger tea and nibbling ginger biscuits really helped. Would definitely recommend no rich food for your Mum during treatment and probably for a few weeks afterwards.

Thank you @CourgetteSeason and @RobertsRadio this is really helpful. I remember having some ginger pastilles when I had nausea with morning sickness, maybe I could get some of those.