Serves: 5
What are the best gifts for cancer patients? Not what you might expect. Try these favorites from cancer survivors.
What to Bring
Gift certificates-Give a gift certificate to a favorite restaurant or department store or for a manicure, pedicure or massage. Create a homemade certificate for a dinner you will make when the patient is home or well enough to enjoy eating, or for a household task. A certificate's underlying message that you think the patient will eventually be well brings hope.
Books-Choose books with spiritual, uplifting messages or those with a humorous tone. Cartoons, comics and magazines are also good choices for reading when concentration may be difficult. Keep the patients' interests in mind--a mystery or the latest best-seller may be just what he or she wants for distraction.
Balloons-Colorful get-well balloons usually last a long time and let the recipient know you are thinking of him or her. Mylar balloons make the best choice because they have no smell and stay inflated for a long time.
Music-Cancer patients can listen at their leisure to music CDs or healing tapes to calm them or for inspiration.
Fruit and vegetable basket-Fresh fruits and vegetables are always good choices. They contain important nutrients for healing and are easy to snack on (just rinse and enjoy). Dried fruits are a good option, too. Be wary of any produce that has a strong aroma, which might be a problem.
Patient requests-Is there something in particular the patient wants? Funny slippers, body lotion, the latest gossip from the office? Being able to grant the patient's wish may indeed be the best gift. And sometimes, he or she may just want your company!
What Not to Bring
Fresh flowers-Flowers with a strong odor are not the best gift for patients who often feel nauseated from cancer, medication or treatment. Ask the florist to suggest varieties (like some orchids) that offer little or no scent. Or bring a green plant to liven things up.
Candy-Cancer patients need to eat as healthfully as possible to keep up their strength. Eating even a couple of candies may not leave an appetite for lunch or dinner. Some patients on chemotherapy have said that chocolate now just tastes sweet without the chocolate flavor.
Anything with a strong aroma-Scented candles, bath salts and gels, lotions, powders or perfumes that are very aromatic are not the best gift choices right now. If you can find unscented versions of these gifts, the cancer patient may be more pleased.
From "Betty Crocker's Living with Cancer Cookbook." Text Copyright 2005 General Mills, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This GREAT GIFTS recipe is from the Betty Crocker's Living With Cancer Cookbook Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.
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