Ann, this is such a generous & helpful idea. You all are so great to help out, especially with rides to & from work. I know that will be a tremendous help to her.

A sack of lemon drops would be nice for when her mouth tastes terrible. A pair of those thin, white cotton gloves (in pharmacies or cosmetic counters) to wear during the night after putting on the bag balm or lotion.

Kathleen

The bag balm may give her problems...but it may not...chemo does funny things to some.
Alo Vera lotion or straight gel is a good one.
How about hard candy...no mints, bad on chemo mouth but werther's is good as are cherry candies.
A wig does not have to be expensive....I have seen some very nice $45 ones....but it has to be cut...and that's scary because wig hair doesn't grow back! But the clue to making it look good is to cut it,....then cut some more. Most "wiggy" wigs are just too much hair and often too big for the wearer.
Also get some of that brush on eye brow defining stuff....Clinique makes it. That will allow her to have eyebrows that don't look stencilled on.
And foods. Don't know what will taste good to her but things like bottles strawberry kiwi juuice or vanilla flavored cream soda or white grape juice. Notice what she eats at work...I craved Margarita mix....hurt my mouth but I wanted to gulp it....but had to sip instead....something about that very sour stuff that I needed I guess!
Good for you for making her life easier....and remember the "chores" asa fter working all day she will have little energy left to cook and clean and do her laundry.
Linda C

Ann, that's a wonderful idea. How about little packages of plain shortbread or crackers for those days when nothing tastes good and her stomach is upset? Maybe crossword puzzles or word games that she could do if she's home alone, or a good book if you know she likes to read, a beautiful scarf, warm socks, I have a friend going through chemo and she says she's always cold.

If you can't find ginger drops, crystallized ginger works, but it take a strong person to eat it straight, LOL, either you love it or you don't. Ginger snaps and ginger ale are nice too.

As LindaC mentioned, there will be times she's just too tired to cook, how about some home canned soup or fresh bread, or both?

Good luck and strong thoughts for your friend, it's good to have someone like you for support.

Annie

Ann what a lovely thoughtful thing to do.

Each patient is different in terms of what they can handle and what they can't. Taste and smell are especially fragile. My sister only wanted comfort type foods, mostly bland but sometimes she wanted really spicy things like wings. I think the later was just because she wanted things to be as they were. It's very hard to say what any person may be able to eat.

The drives to work are probably the best idea. Another idea is a cleaning service. Who of us wants to do housework at the best of times but if you are on your own and undergoing chemo chances are cleaning the toilet is not big on your list. Even if you can collect just enough dollars to have her place cleaned once or twice, that would be huge. I think that is a better idea than the wig......my sister refused to go there.....each person is so different.

As for food, mac and cheese, chicken pot pies, soup....

Fuzzy warm socks and/or slippers. Feet (and hands) can have circulation problems and get cold.

Best of luck to your friend.

AM

If she does not drive, how about a gift card for PeaPod or other grocery delivery or for a cleaning service? I can't imagine that she will want to run a vacuum in a month. If no service in your area, can you and co-workers do the running/clean up for her?

Living alone, can you arrange banking/bill pay service for her? Those things may slip too. And those darned insurance papers.....

And waht about a call list? Each co-worker takes a day and just makes a call to see how she is or what she may need. Most days a check up will make her feel included. Give the office gossip or call to rant if you did that before. And if gives her a chance to vent too!

Hoping for a good outcome.

Peppi

There is a shopping list for chemo on the breast cancer forum. I've put the link below. There are a lot of OTC pharmacy items on it. Maybe a gift card for a pharmacy would be nice.

The chemo infusions can take a few hours. I pack snacks or lunch and my preferred drink. Carbonated drinks can be nice on an uncomfortable stomach. My treat is a Martinelli's sparkling cider. A little ice chest or insulated bag to take food to chemo might be nice for the gift basket - I use one of the soft sided ones.

On days when my stomach feels uncomfortable and my sense of taste is off, chicken or beef soup is one of the few things that tastes good and goes down easily. But I don't know if the colon being involved puts any additional restrictions on what she can eat.

The American Cancer Society has a class called Look Good Feel Better that teaches how to put on make-up including drawing on eyebrows. It is free and they provide a bag of make-up for your skin tone - cosmetic manufacturers donate the make-up and it is nice stuff. I'm not much of a make-up person but I took the class to have it in case I need to dress up for something during chemo. Someone could offer to drive her to and from that class. Only the chemo patients are to stay for the class so whoever drives should expect to bring a book or something to keep them busy for the two hours.

American Cancer Society often also provides free wigs. Sometimes they have the wigs at the office. Around here, they provide a voucher and send you to a wig place. I haven't used that service because I prefer hats and scarves and also if I wanted a wig I don't need help to get it. They also often have hats or scarves.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shopping list for chemo from breast cancer forum

Thank you ALL for so many wonderful suggestions! I am just sorry so many of you know from personal experience what to suggest :( I feel so fortunate that I have had such a charmed life so far.

As for the wig coupon - this is something the hospital cancer center provides, a book of vouchers for various things including the wig, so we are putting that book in the basket and she can decided whether she wants to use it or not. I will look into the Look Good Feel Better class. We are a small town so often don't have these things available. On the other hand, I really don't know WHAT we have here! I'll learn.

I love the suggestions for a cleaning service. I would not have thought of it. I talked to my service this morning (Merry Maids, might as well give them some publicity) and they said they are able to offer a 15% discount and 2 hours free in cases like this. So I will talk to our friend and be sure its something she wants, then see if we can get up a collection for this. It's an apartment, it can't cost too much!

We will sort of have a call list with the driving bit because if she is not waiting for one of us to pick her up, we will call her. And she has phone numbers for several of us if she needs help.

The bag balm was actually suggested by her physician but given your recommendations I will also put in a plain aloe vera lotion. She can see what works for her. Also, you all emphasize how everyone's taste and smell are sensitive in different ways, but its good to know what has helped some people. We'll just give her a variety and see what she likes.

I'm trying to find out what foods she can handle and yes, we will give her some canned or frozen soups and so forth.

Thank you all for the help.

Ann

Oh, and cloud_swift - great link, there are so many things on the list that I never would have thought of. And this woman won't ask for things so it's great to have a resource like this.

Ann

To find out what services the American Cancer Society offers in your area, including the Look Good Feel Better class, you can go to the website below and put the zip code in the box "Find ACS in your community".

Here is a link that might be useful: American Cancer Society

Also...remember that what tastes good this week may not taste good next week!
Also....don't be sorry that so many of us have had the chemo experience.....
We are here to tell you about it aren't we??
Youze "good folk"...there was no one but my children to do that for me when I was going through it.

Ha! Amazing coincidence here. I got my hair cut tonight and mentioned to my stylist about this gift basket. Turns out she volunteers for the local Look Good Feel Better class! So I got the scoop on that and can give my friend the info, how cool!

Lindac, you are right, I am very, very glad you are here to tell me about the experiences. But, being called "good folk" or "thoughtful" or "generous" ... I appreciate those words very much but it makes me uncomfortable. Because I feel so lucky that I have not had anything comparable to this in my life (yet), how could I NOT help someone who has so much to deal with?

lindac, at least you had your children. This woman we are helping, she has one son who lives 70 miles away, he comes maybe once a month or so to see her. He came for Thanksgiving. He works nights, she works days, we think she told him not to come. She has a sister who lives about two hours away, doesn't work. The sister came while she was in the hospital, but hasn't been back since. It breaks my heart that she is basically all alone. I am so lucky. Even if something happened to my husband (I have no children), I have no doubt that my siblings, or even my nieces and nephews, would step up if I needed them. It is so sad to have no one there.

Anyway, thank you all so much for the help, you don't know how much I appreciate the insights and I am sure our friend will too although she won't know it!

Ann