gifts for friend in hospital for a month with chemo

[bluepapermonkey]

A good friend is going to hospital for a month for chemo.

We'd like to send him regular, small gifts through the post (he's at the other end of the country) but not sure how much personal space he'll have or how chemo will hit him.

Am thinking gum for dry mouth, pjs, some ginger sweets for nausea, amazon vouchers for audio books (and links to ideas so he has to do minimum).... but what else?!

Any ideas gratefully received!

ah thats a really nice idea, maybe also photos or pictures because seeing the same four plain walls can get very boring i imagine...
i hope he recovers well

thanks. yes, that's a nice idea. he is very visual so maybe a photo book or some stuff from a gallery. yes, got me thinking now! fantastic thought - thank you.

Try and find out whether he has to pay for the hospital TV and phone and get a voucher for that?

If he has access to internet on tablet etc then Lovefilm credits>> if they exist?

You may be able to get nice dry mouth spray.

Text him (and ring him if he is up to it) as human contact keeps him going . Cup and mug so can have something special whilst he is in there (not hospital rubbish) as makes drinking more tolerable. Pillow spray to make things smell homely.

But amazon or iTunes vouchers best as I watched or read when in hospital.

yes, we'll stay in touch and go and see him too. some great ideas here for things i can send him, thanks so much.

Food gifts will be welcome but wait til he starts as like pregnancy, your tastebuds can go crazy.

I made my friend a box full of stuff when she went in for a mastectomy it had:
Tissues, raisins, small tins of tonic water (quinine is supposed to help with nausea) cd Walkman with two CDs of cool songs (IMO!), crunchy bars, batteries for the Walkman, post it notes, books, mints, wipes, mini deodorants and face creams etc.

HTH x

A vote here for masses of entertainment stuff!

If your friend was a woman I would say a crafting type thing. For a man, maybe a model aeroplane/boat whatever to put together, paint etc. (Revell is one of the main brands, they do scale models and you can get them online and in craft shops). Would he enjoy a jigsaw puzzle, a pack of cards with some suggested card games, a computer chess game or other computer games? Maybe an old fashioned game if there is somebody else to play with, eg Monopoly, Risk etc.

Does he have kids? Otherwise maybe a thing he can make for his kids?

I would be cautious about craft stuff- a lot of people find their concentration goes when on chemo .

Audio books in case he's bored but not up to reading
A friend who's spent a lot of time in hospital said it made her skin really dry & unpleasant. Don't know what kind of guy your friend is, but maybe some nice toiletries?
Jelly sweets for dry mouth & treats
Far Side or Modern Toss easy to read cartoons..?
HTH, you're doing a lovely thing

some great and really thoughtful ideas, thank you.

he is single so no partner and no kids - but he is a lovely bloke so does have lots of friends to care about him.

he is a bit of an artist so thinking about getting him a journal and some watercolour crayons so he can mess about a bit if the mood takes him and some books for inspiration or just pictures when he's feeling shite.

he's got 5 months of coming so it's going to be a slog.