Present for a hospitalised, anorexic and severely depressed 12 year old girl?

[Anna8888]

I had lunch with one of my very best friends, whose daughter was hospitalised two weeks ago with anorexia. She had been ill for about a year, but at home and seeing psychiatrists as an outpatient.

Anyway, this girl, who I have known since she was three, whose whole family I know and who I have been on holiday with many times, is probably going to be in hospital until at least Christmas. What can I take her to distract her? She is rather bored - stimulation would be a good thing.

depends how much you want to spend - Nintendo DS or similiar hand held? would be educational as well

Does she like reading? Books would be good. Or would she be interested in crosswords, sudoku that kind of thing?

I hope the treatment is a success, I wish them all good luck.

And perhaps something for the Mum too?

I think a Nintendo DS too - with Nintendogs on it because then she is 'looking after' a pet and it moves the focus away from her for some of the day.

for her Anna8888, she is so young. Ic hope she starts to get better soon.

Does she have a nintendo DS or equivalent? Maybe a new game for that.

Not sure what 12 year old girls are into at all, and I suppose it must be hard to think of something incase it makes her feel worse.

Are puzzle books too old folksy....something like crosswords or sudoku?

Or how about a tapestry kit or something crafty like bead kits?

Flier - that's not a bad idea, I'm sure her mother (a mega-intellectual achievement-oriented sort) would be vaguely horrified, but I will suggest it to her... we have lots around the place, I can pass on/lend one of the boys' ones that they don't use any more. And I could buy some new girl-oriented games.

Mp3 player with lots of her favourite bands on?

Audio books are good because they block out the sounds of the day-to-day routines in a hospital - you can lie back and just listen without distraction.
They are good for when the lights are low too.

Message withdrawn

How heartbreaking

Some good books? A sketch pad/pecils if she is arty, or journal to write in?

She has lots of occupational therapy, mostly geared towards beauty treatments and hairdressing - trying to get the girls to love themselves a little more... So I could get her some make-up too, maybe in a really nice little bag. Ooh yes - I could get her lots of beauty products, my DP sells them by the bucket load in his shops, I can get a mega box of freebies .

Anna - there's the brain training on the DS also, which may qualm (is that the correct word???!-is it even a word??) her mother.

Flier - her mother won't really mind, it's just that that kind of stuff is normally totally off her radar screen so I have to run it by her (and check she's allowed it at the hospital). But yes - suggestions for games good. She's a very clever girl but of course her concentration is not good at the moment.

a snuggly blanket or a nice jumper, maybe.
audio cds.
would she be interested in doing some sort of craft-type activity?

sorry to hear that she is experiencing this dreadful illness, and at such an early age.

The poor girl

If you're going down the nintendo route, as well as something to stimulate her brain, how about a fun racing game like Mario Kart? It distracted my 11yo DD very effectively when in hospital awaiting an operation (and DH while she was in theatre). Entirely non-intellectual but very absorbing and great fun.

A nice soft cuddly jumper is a very good idea too

Thanks Castille

I wasn't going to suggest this until you said about beauty treatments and hairdressing but there is a Nintendo game being advertised "fashion designer" - I have no idea what the body image being presented by the game is (which is why I said Nintendogs) but you could check it out first.

i have no suggestion that hasnt already been said...

but what a sad sad post to read

hope she gets all the help she needs

Thanks LaurieFairyCake. Sounds great.

There is huge FNAC not far from me so I shall go and check out the games very soon (once I have laid my hands on an errant Nintendo).

you could get some lovely snuggly socks to go with the jumper... slipper socks?

some nice shower gel etc

Till Christmas is a long time, but even with a normally good concentration span it's hard to get things done in hospital, there's always someone bobbing in or out or you're being taken off somewhere. Could you think of some sort of project-ish thing for her to do - I can't think what though - review the freebie beauty products and she could put her reviews into a beauty newsletter for maybe the girls at school or if there are other girls in the hospital? I mean I don't really know what's appropriate in the particular circumstances, but I should have thought something with a value that would boost her sense of the worth of contributions that she makes? DSs can be good but lots of use does leave you with a bit of a fizzy head.

I may be overthinking this.

Hope she gets well soon.

what about some jewellry making stuff?
nail varnishes and nail decals
jigsaw puzzles?
magazines
colouring books etc

Jewellry making kit?