What to give a cancer patient?

[WhoSleptInMyPorridgeAndBrokeIt]

A dear mate of mine has breast cancer.. Was only diagnosed a few months ago but the tumour was already 2.5x2.7 cm Had an op and going through chemo now Her husband is coming over to the UK in january and I wanna give him something for her.. I'm a bit lost for ideas as although we used to be very close we sorta found it hard to keep in touch since I moved to the UK..

They're reasonably well off so it's not like they'd be desperate for anything.. So I suppose I'm just looking for something really nice and a touch unusual..

My mum's best friend was diagnosed just before christmas and has started chemo.

I bought her a very pretty scarf as a gift.

what about a talking photo album, you could put photographs in of the 2 of you together and record little messages to cheer her up at this sad time ....

here

I lovely lip balm. DD always had dry lips due to the chemo and being in hospital. I gave her my Clarins one. I bought one for my sister when she was on treatment for breast Ca.

You can also get nice facial mists from the high end skin care brands.

DD had loads of audio books, but she was in hospital an awful lot. Hopefully your friend will be an outpatient most of the time.

yeah she's an outpatient. Do you know of any proven to work face/body creams? I'm a bit cautious of buying skincare products because I always find it very difficult to buy creams for myself and I only have sensitive skin, not one nuked by chemo

Also like the idea of a scarf - where could I get a really good quality headscarf, preferably fine wool/silk for under £20?

I agree with photo album and diary maybe. Scraft sounds fab too

You could try Etsy.com if you have time to get it posted to you.
If you set it to Uk and put in max $31 ish (20 pounds) there are over 2000 results found just for silk scarfs. Plus there are some other lovely hand made and vitage peices just perfect to make some one smile.
(Its great place for getting ideas for some one who can afford to buy any thing they need them self.)

Skin care can be tricky thats why I stuck to lip balm and facial mists.

One word of caution about scarves, I dont wish to offend but

when someone is dx with cancer they can be inundated with scarves and bandanas. It can be a bit overwhelming. DD got a bit fed up with the reminder that she would be losing her hair.

But thats a personal observation based on our experience.

You know your friend best.

could you put together a little box of googies?
lip balm
thoart sweets (if shes being sick it hurts a lot )
photo album
diary
scarf
yummy chocolates and maybe a book

just an idea

oh thanks so much for your comments I've got a bit of a choice now! Still got a couple of weeks' time so will have a browse
Thanks for the photo album tip, unfortunately I only have a handful of photos with her so it won't work but I liked some other stuff on that website.. esp the flying lanterns

flying lanterns look good

She may not lose her hair. I know someone having chemo at the moment and she only has one cycle to go and has kept her hair so far thanks to using the cold cap treatment.

Tbh - I would get her a gift for the friend she is not the cancer patient she is now. Lip balm etc sounds lovely but I would steer away from anything that can imply 'I'm giving you this in case you die' because treating cancer is all about living not dying.

thats very true, DH has not lost his hair either, which is is grateful for his very vain!

It depends which type of chemo it is among other things I think.

I second giving her something relevant to herself, not her illness, but that can be complicated when the two happen to coincide.

It is hard with someone you haven't been in close contact with for a while.

I can't really think of anything 'cancer specific'. Maybe just a nice card with a well thought out message in it would mean more if you don't often swap gifts anyway.

Hope she will be Ok x

smells are very important, I would give body lotion and if you can ask her dh what she is using or her fav so you can get that particular one.

hair loss is both relevant and irrelevant in her case - she and her DH went and shaved their hair off the weekend before she was to start her chemo! And she had lovely long hair so you saying she may not have lost it makes my heart sink but on second thought I don't think I'll get her any head wear - as I said they're well off and would have already got something as it would have been an essential in her case.

I'm thinking of getting her

• the lanterns (love them! and she can use them whenever - not too cancer-related)
• a dry skin treatment (again can be used at a later point we all get dry skin, right?) probably this one
• and a pair of silly slippers. She likes funky footwear and so do I! I'm wearing these at mo but there's a whole lot of them on amazon

Is there anything that she really likes but finds it difficult to get where she is?

I live abroad and the best presents have been silly British stuff, packets of jelly and custard, sweets that are not available here, things like that.