Sunday, August 23, 2009

Chemotherapy Pack

When someone undergoes chemotherapy treatments there will likely be a few things that can make the trip a bit easier to take. With the help of an article from eHow and a few of my own ideas, I’ve compiled a list of things one could put together in the form of a “chemo pack”.

• A small light-weight tote bag with a pen and small notebook or journal.
• Soft items such as socks, gloves, scarves, comfy hat, PJs and a blanket.
• A variety of snacks such as cookies and crackers and bottled water … a special/travel mug.
• Tissue pocket pack, scent free lotion, lip balm, cuticle cream and any other hygiene products you may think of … try to find items with the least amount of fragrance.
• Fun things to do such as: a book, sudoku, crosswords, magazines, a stuffed toy, relaxing CD’s
• A pocket-size hand sanitizer or handi-wipes

Of course, there are so many more ideas that could be included with a gift pack … such as a portable DVD player and movies, CD or mp3 player.

I guess part of the fun is to individualize the pack for the person. Happy shopping!

7 comments:

Sherry said...

Excellent post Daria!! It is all those little things that make such a difference and personalizing with things you know the person enjoys. I give full marks to the comfy socks...my feet were always so cold!!!!

Sherry said...

Can I add fruit drops or pastilles of some kind...to help with dry mouth. I found those to be wonderful!

Renee said...

Seriously Daria you make me laugh all the time.

xoxox

TNBCAmazon said...

What a lovely idea!
Here's another thing that could be added to the kit: an audio book on the MP3 player or on CDs. It's nice to listen to someone read a book to you, as it saves the trouble of having to keep your eyes open and fixed on the pages of a book. You know, during chemo I don't always need to actually see what is going on...

Joanie said...

Daria, We packed a bunch of John's favorite books and movies. He bought a couple of books and saved them just for his trip to the hospital.

We brought a dozen or so movies (TV is $8 per day... I don't think so! besides, the family waiting room is across the hall and we go in there in the evening and watch TV on the hospital's dime!)

We also brought his favorite PJ bottoms and all his goofy t-shirts with sayings on them and his special diabetic socks which are nice and soft and aren't real tight on the ankle. Can't forget the special cap my daughter knitted for him! He wears it at night over his eyes... keeps the lights off his face.

Word find puzzles and sudoku puzzles are a must! Across the hall are several jigsaw puzzles.

Each room on the floor has a small fridge and a lot of rooms have a little microwave. I stocked it with his favorite sugar-free sodas.
I'll be bringing his favorite teabags in a day or so.

I have to remember to bring his classical music CDs in from my car! The soothing music is good for him!

Sara Diana said...

an mp3 player with relaxing music and definately fruit pastels to suck and tissues because the chemo I have makes my nose run!

Anonymous said...

i'm learning a lot about the whole experience, Daria, and thanks for sharing them here.