Supporting a friend, need ideas and help

No experience of this Darryl but as others will advise, please stay away from Google - ask questions on here and someone will be able to help 

Hi

This is s lovely idea. 

For research, please use the Macmillan site where you can find clear reliable information about your friend’s cancer and their particular drugs. 

Their specialist nurse will be able to advise them and supply meds for nausea. Of course ginger biscuits are traditionally seen as helpful but my partner didn't eat those. If you want to be practical you could buy a sick bowl. We found that square was best as it sits against the body and the rectangular ones were too big to hold (weak arms having to hold away from body wasn’t easy). The square ones I bought were firmer with decent handles. All of which protects against spills. My partner’s had a lot of nausea but didn’t have any on the first IV chemo. 

Of course not all chemo leads to nausea and you could think about other side effects once you’ve researched the meds. Soda and cider mixed 50/50 are a good mouthwash for oral thrush, another common but rarely mentioned side effect. You could buy them those or a bottle of dental ph, it won’t be as good as the soda/cider but will be more pretty  in s care package. The nurse will suggest difflam (prescribed mouthwash) or other meds but these always take s day or two to organise and they might appreciate having something at home ready. 

My partner’s taste buds changed frequently on her first IV chemo and by the time I’d got a stock of something she’d gone off of it. She had a huge phase on mint aero as she craved sweet and found the mint made the chocolate less sickly. so uou might think foods are difficult, but buying things they like should always work as they will return to these after chemo, if not during it. It will make them feel you care, regardless. 

Magazines and smellies are good too. They are likely to be tired and have a shortened attention span so a magazine on their favourite subject might be good. Think about hand creams and face wipes. If you’re too weak to walk about these can be nice to have by their side. My partner has face sweats from morphine. So face wipes are handy for that but if someone is too tired to shower then a face wipe is refreshing and can make them feel better. 

Whatever you get they’ll appreciate the thought. 

Hi  

High Five for coming here to help your friend and not shying away from all she is going through :)

Don't know about the gift ideas but you probably know her likes and what she would appreciate most at a tough time ?  A great option is to help do things she is finding difficult due to tiredness and feeling a bit rubbish. Helping round the house, putting bins out anything she could be struggling with ?

If you could get back to us naming the chemotherapy drugs regime she is actually having it would help as they all have differing side effects even down to how much taste and texture is affected.

Most find something like a couple of Ginger Nut biscuits or pineapple chunks prior to eating can kick start the taste buds, some at this time develop a taste for stronger flavours like curries/sauces etc while others go the opposite preferring bland food. Don't go for the pineappple if she has a sore mouth though (a sore mouth can be common during some types of chemo)

The tablets she is probably being given should help with the nausea, if not get her to mention this to get different/better anti-sickness meds. It is better to try and keep on top of this before she actually is sick.

There are very active groups here for both Ovarian and Cervical Cancers but I'm unsure which one has affected the other so will leave it up to you to find the better one of the two for you to check out.

It is helpful to get friendly, honest and factual information about treatments from those who are also going through it.

Hope this is of some help for now, take care, G n' J

Thanks for the tips, and I will get back to you when I know more about her regimens etc. :)

Thanks for all of this Bryony, lots of good ideas.  Wonder if they do Harry Potter themed sick buckets...

I was browsing on the ‘Cancer Support UK’ website and they had cancer kits that gave me some ideas of items that I could put together myself that are helpful for someone going through chemo. It looks like the kits might also be able to be sent out. I live overseas and was looking for ways to help from afar.