Chemo treats

Hello me and one of my best friends have been going through cancer treatment for the last 6 months. I was very lucky and after my mastectomy/reconstruction only now need letrozole for 5 years. She has had a hard time of it though and is currently going through chemo.
I am going to visit this weekend and wanted to take her a treat : she is suffering with everything tasting weird and bloating at the moment and I wondered if anyone had any recommendations of things that are a nice treat if you’re feeling like that
Thank you so much

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Hi
I’m sure seeing you will be a treat but if its food items then perhaps something like a homemade soup or smoothie

Warm socks are always lovely and she can wear them in the chemo unit

Mint or ginger tea or ginger beer

Enjoy your visit xx

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So lovely of you, I had the weird taste thing and found sweet things were best (but I also have a mega sweet tooth anyway!). Flavoured water / ice lollies / cakes etc went down well for me! I found fizzy/sparkling drinks were a bit irritating though.
Not a treat - but my team prescribed me some benzydamine mouth wash which I found helped, it’s meant to be for sores but I found it helped the weird sensations a bit so could check if she’s had anything prescribed!

Also - good hand creams/ cuticle oil / lip balm might be a nice treat as chemo causes dry skin. Agree with the mention of nice fluffy socks too :blush:

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@Curlywurly1 Thank you!

@sooz1 thank you!

Oohhh you’re such a nice friend. :two_hearts:
My recommendation would be pukka teabags. Pukka Matcha are good, especially the mixed pack, with turmeric or ginseng. Then theres the ultimate peppermint and licorice. I have got so many people hooked on them its unreal. Pukka do a nice gift box with a good mixture in for an extra special treat

Enjoy :two_hearts::two_hearts::two_hearts:

@Ahbc21 thank you so much!

Hi, I recommend visiting the Little Lifts website. You can get a gift bag for both chemo and radio patients. It is full of treats and things. Too late for the weekend, but you could have it delivered to yer house.

Hope you are both doing well x

The taste thing can be awful. The only thing I enjoyed that tasted the way it should was ice cream. My son used to bring me homemade ice cream from a local farm shop which was amazing. I also enjoyed mint or ginger tea as regular tea tasted awful to me. Another treat that I used a lot is hand cream and lip balms as everything is dried out. Great to hear of the support you are giving your friend. I have a friend who has made me and my family dinner once a week since I started chemo….16 weeks so far and another 7 to go. Nice not to think about cooking.

That’s so lovely. Lots of great ideas from everyone. My neighbour bought me some portions of homemade soup which was lovely as I always had a healthy, yummy lunch ready to go.
Definitely agree with herbal teas. I always took one in to my chemo appointments.
Another lovely friend sent me a package of books and magazines.
I think anything you do will be much appreciated. :heart:

It’s so nice you’ve got each other for support even if your journeys are different.
It’ll be a treat for her to see you I’m sure. I loved seeing friends during my treatment especially as it was during Covid and I live alone. Really treasured those times.
It helped distract me from the awful tastes/not tasting thing which I really struggled with.
I found the only things that tasted normal to me were bbq flavour crisps and cinnamon buns. Really not a good diet but when you just want to taste something normal you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
I would also make fruit smoothies and freeze them into small ice lollies which were a welcome relief for my mouth.
Have an amazing time with your friend and I’m sure she’ll appreciate whatever you take. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

I would buy some magazines and colouring magazines, a nice book to journal, nice toiletries and cream x

A silk pillow case! It’s heaven when your hair is falling out. My head was burning and stopped me sleeping!

Ooh yes @watching-the-birds. That’s a great one.

For me anything lemon helped. Lemon soap, shampoo, lemon sherbet sweets, lemon a ginger tea. Best of all is the support and company of friends