Gift for friend having chemo suggestions.

[Windypants21]

A lady I used to work with is having chemo and having a crappy time. I am not geographically close to her but just want to send her something nice. Obviously thought of flowers but any other suggestions ?

Silk pillowcase (protects hair and stops friction).
I'm sorry your friend is going through this.

'Not another bunch of flowers' has good suggestions

My mum spent a long time in hospital having chemo and it was very boring. I bought her one of those adult colouring books and some nice pencils.

Things I loved when having chemo:

A nice hand cream (I got very itchy hands and feet)
Some cold under eye patches. Either the ready packed ones or ones you can put in the fridge.
Fluffy slippers
Hot water bottle
A shit tonne of biscuits and chocolate
Lip balm
A new journal and pen
Hard boiled sweets (dry mouth)
Fancy herbal teas
Heated sleep mask
Maybe an ebook voucher to pass the time
A new mug
Flowers are always lovely

I found smells very overpowering almost like pregnancy but on steroids so maybe avoid overly scented things.

Maybe put together a little hamper. Chemo is shit but having some little new things really perked me up!
What a lovely idea though, you sound like a good friend :)

I was just coming on to suggest the website 'not another bunch of flowers'.

They do care packages for chemo which my friend really appreciated

Ive had chemo. A packet of sweets and a coffee voucher would be fab. Most importantly, once a week check in with 'Hows it going? How are you feeling?' The gift of an open ended setence is the greatest gift of all.

My ex mother in law went through this. I bought her real life magazines every week so she had a good stash for her 3 weekly, hour long treatment. Someone bought her a voucher to watch TV in the hospital but she wasn't there long enough to make the most of it. I made a huge batch of soup and broth for her freezer so she could eat decent if she couldn't face a full solid meal. She has a few rounds of different treatments and each one effected her differently so I tried to adapt my gifts. I'd say it's worth checking what she wants/needs. Take hints, if she says she's bored during treatment, if you know she enjoys drawing get her an adult colouring book, if she enjoys reading buy a book she'd like etc

What a lovely friend you are, to think about what might be a good gift! The best presents I got during chemo were books and cashmere socks. I used to put the socks on and feel very luxurious. Silky scarves or beanies. PJs as you spend so much time lounging around. And podcast recommendations/audio books as I ended up not being bothered to read. Food and scented things might be difficult - I found that my tastebuds were weird (eg chocolate) and I couldn't tolerate anything scented (eg candles or pillow sprays/lotions).