Breast Cancer Care Package

I have a good friend who is going through the battle of breast cancer. The most important thing for you to do is to listen listen listen.

There is a wonderful website where you can set up community-wide communication from a distance. It is called lotsahelpinghands.com. It has streamlined the entire process. People can sign up to bring her food, clean the house, do home repairs or any other assistance she may need. They also post all of her Updates so she doesn't become as overwhelmed with phone calls. It's been great!

I know mints/hard candy were great for my mom when she was doing chemo. They helped with the metallic taste that she would get (which only added to her nauseousness)

There is a brand called Basic that makes soap and face wipes that was recommended to my mom when she was doing radiation. She loved the stuff so much that she still uses it today.

Fun magazines (very light material like US weekly) were helpfui during the times she felt like doing something other than sleeping.

Comfy PJ/yoga pants were her uniform.

A journal to write her symptoms and thoughts down in

I am so sorry that you're mom has breast cancer, what a difficult time it is for you too! I would get her an MP3 player loaded with music that she likes, how about a really nice cozy blanket? some comfy pants-easy off and on like yoga pants. I don't know what kind of books she likes but I love Janet Evanovich's "Stephanie Plum" series. She's a quirky heroine that player a bounty hunter and often stumbles into interesting situations...laugh out loud funny!! Hard candies to suck on, a portable DVD player to take w/her to chemo. If she's doing the standard treatment she'll be there about 3-4hours. I wouldn't send anything fragrant as you don't know if she will be sensitive to smells. If you have a chance to visit I would offer to take her to the hairdresser and get her hair shaved BEFORE it starts to fall out. Then look at different hats, wigs, wraps etc.. Remember, cancer is not a death sentence!! Cancer is beatable and a positive attitude is far more powerful than any chemotherapy will ever be!!!You and your mom will be in my prayers. M.

Hello: I am a breast cancer survivor. chemo is the worst part of the treatment. If she had to have surgery, I loved the little pillow that I had to put under my arm to make my area comfortable. May find out what foods she likes while having chemo and send gift cards for those. She needs to keep eating no matter how poorly you feel. Also, greeting cards seemed to arrive just when I needed them. I loved fun hats, scarves, etc to use while I was without hair. It is hot wearing a wig during the summer in this climate. I lost my hair on day 13 after round one of chemo and it comes out fast. That is the worst part. I took a lot of vitamins and seemed to help me feel better. I am walking in the 60 miles walk this fall. I hope that she does well with the treatment. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Dear Sarah S:

I also have breast cancer. I finished six rounds of chemo in April and just started radiation last week.

For chemo different types of hats (make sure some of them are VERY soft), little things to read and do while sitting there. Everybody gets cold with the IV solutions, so a light sweater and perhaps a light blanket. Some light reading materials or favorate magazines are nice. Also send a few baked goods, a small amount several times. Most of us had strange/bad tastes from food, but sweet seems to taste good. Just don't send a lot of any one food, because taste changes quickly.

Another suggestion, if your mother will be getting a mediport for IV administration, that is in the chest. To access it you need either lower cut necklines or button-up shirts. If that's what she'll have, get her a couple of nice button-up blouses.

As for radiation, so far that doesn't seem to need much, at least for me. Radiation is very easy after chemo.

Tell your mother to hang in there. It's very hard when you start and it seems it will never end, but it does. Things WILL get better.

L. F., Allen

My friends Mom went through this with cervical cancer. I had just learned to knit and knitted her a chemo cap. Even in the summer months the scalp can get cold. So, if you don't knit, this might be a good time to learn. The chemo cap patterns are readily available free on the internet. Choose luxurious natural fiber yarn, bamboo is super soft, or alpaca. The Woolie Yew on Custer & 15th in Plano (there are probably other yarn shops in the area, but I'm new to Plano) has a huge selection of yarns and can probably help you find what you need. I think your Mom will appreciate having something handmade from the heart.

K.

Hi Sarah, my name is M. and I am a 52 yr old breast cancer survivor. I received wonderful care packages that included music, magazines, angels, movies and a special blanket to take to Chemo, a great soft hat for when I lost my hair. Every persons experience with chemo is different. I could not tolerate citrus, red sauces. I needed lots of protein and starches. I had friends bring dinner and help aroun the house.
I loved receiving cards in the mail.
I hope that this helps.

If I can help in any way please let me know. ###-###-####
M.

I'm sorry to hear about your moms situation. I would also burn some home movies onto a DVD for her. Also, you can put in there some of the kids art work. (Grandmas ALWAYS like that). Hope your mom gets well soon.

Speaking from a cancer survivor's perspective, I would avoid loading her up w/ the Pink Ribbon tchotcke's that seem to be everywhere. They may be hip & trendy right now, but will have the unfortunate side effect of sending your mom back into the feelings of turmoil and uncertainty when she is finished with treatments and moving back into her "new normal". During chemo, food tends to taste a bit metallic, and it doesn't improve until well after radiation is over, so don't send her any of her favorite foods, or else she may develop an aversion to them during this time. I used to eat my favorite trail mix during my chemo treatments, and now it literally makes me nauseated to even see it!

A healing meditation CD would be something good to include, since the mind/body connection is HUGE. I also got a lot of good out of fresh juices (juice machine is a big plus!), and perhaps you could help her find a local acupuncturist to aid in reducing some of the side effects from chemo, too. Cranial-sacral massage helped me to visualize my tumor turning into a worm and then watched it shrivel up and die, so that's another good thing to consider.

Finally, make sure that you talk about things other than her treatments. Try to not start every conversation w/ the hushed tones of, "How are you feeling today?". Don't let her obsess over what's going wrong w/ her cells. Help her to understand that LOTS of great stuff is going RIGHT, and that will help you, too!

Feel free to call me at ###-###-#### if you'd like any more advice or a different perspective!

You may think this is not the time - but - I have given the book "Dear God, They say it's Cancer" to a friend - and she said she was grateful to have gotten the book. It's specific to breast cancer. You may want to check it out. If you have trouble tracking it down - let me know. I actually am doing someones wedding flowers this weekend in McKinney and would be more than happy to get a copy to you to look at - possibly even have.

Good luck!!!

HI Sarah, sorry to hear about what you and family are going through this. My mom is a 3 time surviver of breast cancer and she is the strongest woman I know. I would suggest not sending anything that has a smell. Also, for my mom (who was in another state also) she didn't want to eat that much because she had sores in her mouth (can't remember if it was from chemo or radiation) but she would drink Ensure liquid meals. So if that becomes the case with your mom, look for those on sale and send to her. One other thing to consider is taking vacation and using that time to be a care giver for your mom, which will help you feel more connected to her during her treatment, and will give the primary caregiver a little time off. I think I did that twice during my mom's treatment, and I scheduled it so I could take her to treatment and care for her the days following. It wasn't much, but it gave my stepdad a few days to himself to rest while I was there. God Bless your mom and know that this is beatable!

I would say a journal would be great. maybe have a nice leather bound journal made with her name on it or initials.

A. J

For anyone who has prolonged illness or is in the hospital, I like to put together a little "spa" package. Bath salts/oils, foot and hand creams, a loofa, aromatherapy votive candles, etc. Just something nice where they can relax, pamper themselves during a pretty stressful time, without spending a small fortune. I have found that you can find a number of these items at Ross, Marshalls and other discount department stores at extremely reasonable prices too.