Encouragement for Cancer Patient

good old fashioned Hallmark.

My MIL has cancer and I send her a card a week. Nothing about her illness really. Just pretty cards or cards that say "thinking of you." She loves this!

Knit something cozy if you are a knitter. Or my dear friend actually made me an adorable fleece blanket for me when I was sick once. She just bought the material and then tied off the edges. It is wonderful and I still use it. In fact have to fight my kids for it.

Having had more cancer-related experiences than I wish I've had, my advice is to think of small things you can do to help her maintain some sense of normalcy in her household. Put aside whatever time you can during the weekends and then show up, look around, and do what you can with what time you have available. Let her know that you are there to help and she doesn't have to be around if she doesn't want to (this isn't a social visit unless she wants it to be!). Don't ask - no one is going to tell you to please come over and clean out the fridge, fold their socks, or cook a meal for the family. Don't make her call you - just go. E-mail her everyday and let her know that you are thinking of her - nothing big, and let her know you don't expect a reply! You can help her incredibly and not spend a dime.

I made my friend a prayer blanket. I put a cross made of knots in the middle of it and had a group of friends tie the knots while we prayed for her. It was so she could be covered in prayer while getting her treatments.Feel free to contact me if you want more info.

Cleaning for a Reason
If you know any woman currently undergoing chemotherapy, there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning - once per month for 4 months while she is in treatment. All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor fax a note confirming the treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange for the service. This organization serves the entire USA and currently has 547 partners to help these women. This nonprofit offers free professional housecleaning, and maid services to improve the lives of women undergoing treatment for cancer - any type of cancer. Please pass the word and let them know that there are people out there that care
http://www.cleaningforareason.org/

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There are churches that make prayer shawls....a very nice gift.

Purchase the following book for her:

The Whole Body Workbook for Cancer: A Complete Integrative Program for Increasing Immunity and Rebuilding Health

You can purchase it on amazon.com for $14.18 and have it delivered directly to her house. The book is amazing. It talks about what cancer is, how it is diagnosed, the different types of treatment and the steps that you can take before, during and after treatment that will help you get through it all. For example, it talks about supplments that you can take during treatment that will help reduce nausea and also what you can do or take to limit the amount of hair you lose during chemotherapy. It also talks about what you can do now to make it less likely for you to have a recurrence of cancer once the treatment is over. If it were my friend, I would definitely buy her this book. Knowledge is power and power over her own health and future is exactly what your friend needs right now.

Sending your friend prayers of strength and healing.

you can do a care package. do some fruit some puzzles some movies some snacks even make her some meals that she can just put in the oven or in the microwave. my grandmother went through chemo and she was so tired and sick after every treatment she didnt want to do anything so just do things that she can do in bed or on the couch and some meals so she does not have to cook.

You have already been given such great ideas! I don't have a lot to add other than just be an ear for her to talk to. Having some one available every day to listen to how she feels is important. Even if that means, some days the phone, some days the email, some days a visit and some days a card. Let her know that she is never alone. I agree with another poster, show up on the weekends and do the things that she won't ask of you. Like doing the laundry, taking out the trash and cleaning the bathroom. Collect a small box of things like tissues, crossword puzzles, cool pens, a journal, small packets of crackers, lotions, cozy socks, things that make her laugh and put them in all of the areas around her house that she likes to sit. That way when after she sits down she does not have to jump up and go get _______. She has a spare in the convenient box.

Is she going to be taking chemo that will cause her to lose her hair? If so, make her a couple chemo hats to wear.

My grandfather past away a few years ago with cancer its a tough thing to go threw but with knowing you are there calling everyday and just spend every moment you can even if its just the weekends do a movie night after baby gets to sleep or girls night one night make overs manicures do them yourselves and talk boys or watever have a good time and smile wen ever possible times are tough but you can still make the best of it. I'll keep your family in my prayers.
C.

I asked this question about a year ago for a dear friend, and the best suggestion I got was for a goody bag with things for her to use during her treatments. Some things you could include: a large bag of mints, because chemo makes your mouth taste bad. Hand sanitizer, since your immune system is weakened. Lotion and lip balm for sensitive skin. Ginger tea, to help curb the nausea. A soft blanket and/or eye mask if she wants to doze during the treatments. An mp3 player already loaded with songs, or an I-tunes gift certificate. A pretty hat or scarf to keep her head warm when she starts to lose her hair. My friend loved her goody bag and used every single thing!

When my sister was diagnosed with leukemia, we had to keep her off the internet so it wouldn't scare her. I previewed all internet information and sent her only positive things about her illness. I would paste them together in Word documents - stories of people who had been living for years with leukemia, stories of how effective the drug they were using was thought to be, etc. I also sent her funny movies which she really liked because she was so tired, laying around and TV was so depressing so the movies really helped. (In fact, we thought cable TV should start a Cancer Channel with only funny shows, no medical shows, and no people dying movies). My mom sent her PJ's so she always had something clean and fresh. A friend sent her some special lotion for cancer patients which was great because her skin had become very dry. I live too far (thousands of miles) to help her with cooking/cleaning but my nieces cleaned the house and that really helped her as she was too tired to do it herself and she hates a dirty house. Send cards, send jokes, send quotes and call her often - every day if you can - even if it's for 15 minutes. It takes about 3 months to adjust to the diagnosis - not that it ever stops being discouraging but so that she doesn't wake up every morning thinking omg, I have cancer. I hope things go well for her.

When my dear, sweet, young cousin was fighting Brain Cancer, she and her husband founded an organization and all it is is free encouragement. It's top notch well done, and you can just download the four discs, or order the discs for a nominal fee.

I don't know if all four discs and the journal are available yet, but I know that the ones that were complete, I listened to and they were great! So encouraging and full of hope!

So, free resources of encouragement should be helpful and totally doable!

www.anthemofhope.com

Blessings on you as you reach out to her, and blessings on her as she goes through this season.

~A. Kirsch

Here is a wonderful resource to help her. It is free and you can help by signing her up and possibly even getting her house "ready" for that first cleaning:) HEre is the email my friend shared with me.
http://www.cleaningforareason.org/

If you know any woman currently undergoing chemotherapy, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning - once per month for 4 months while she is in treatment. All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor fax a note confirming the treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange for the service. This organization serves the entire USA and currently has 547 partners to help these women. It's our job to pass the word and let them know that there are people out there that care. Be a blessing to someone and pass this information along.

http://www.cleaningforareason.org/

A very close friend of mine's sister has created an "organizer" for cancer patients. It helps them keep up with things such as appointments, who has done what for them to write thank you cards, all sorts of neat things. The website is http://www.lovemyjourney.com/ and you can purchase the organizer on there. It is very neat and she has put a LOT of time into this after a friend of hers was diagnosed with cancer a few years back.