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When someone we know and and care about is diagnosed with breast cancer, we want to show our support. However, for someone who’s never been through cancer, it’s hard to know what a woman with breast cancer needs.
If you want to send gifts that are more thoughtful than a bunch of flowers then read on because I will be giving you 6 gift ideas that can make a cancer patient’s journey easier.
1) Planning to Thrive
Once a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, she has so many important things to remember and write down, such as specialist appointments, scans, tests and treatment appointments are just a few things that she needs to track of so having a dedicated journal to manage the practicalities of dealing with cancer can be extremely useful.
Canplan is the best organizer for cancer patients and is the perfect gift for someone who is newly diagnosed. This journal allows the cancer patient to have a holistic approach to fighting cancer. Some of the features worth mentioning are the appointment tracker which has space to write down things like questions to ask the doctor, notes to take during the appointment etc. Patients can also track any side-effects they experience so they can confidently remember to relay the details to their doctors.
It also has positivity exercise to help the mental side of things, tips for healthy living and much more. You can check it out HERE.
2) Moving to Thrive
Exercise has been shown to be the best way for cancer patients to minimise the side-effects of cancer treatment and to avoid a recurrence. However, a depressed immune system during chemotherapy means they might not want to go to their local gym to do a workout.
Encourage them to keep active in the outdoors or do some indoor exercise like yoga in the comfort of their own home. You can buy an awesome yoga mat like this one that includes a personalised message.
Gone are the days of having to buy exercise videos only to be bored of them shortly after. Instead, opt to stream endless variety of high quality exercise videos from YouTube - totally FREE. There’s many channels offering yoga, pilates, barre, cardio boxing, zumba, dance, hip hop etc.
The key here is to use a push device like the Apple TV to turn a humble living room into a private exercise studio. You can check it out HERE.
Using a push device like the Apple TV allows you to watch or listen to any media that is playing on your IOS device or mac computer onto your big screen TV. My favourite way of working out at home is to browse the endless selection of YouTube workout videos (totally freeee!) on my phone and push them onto my cinema screen essentially turning my living room into an exercise studio. It’s perfect when you’re housebound and still want to exercise. Most exercise routines don’t need a lot of space and as long as I can fit a yoga mat, then I find I have enough room.
3) Head Covering
If chemotherapy is in the treatment plan then the cancer patient will most likely experience hair loss. Good quality, natural looking wigs can be expensive so if you know that she’s planning to get a wig, consider chipping in the expense in the form of a gift certificate to a wig salon.
Wigs can get hot, itchy and uncomfortable, so she won’t be able to wear it 24/7. It’s also important to have a variety of comfortable head coverings especially during winter when it’s very cold to go out bald or sleep with an uncovered head.
A head cover made out of soft stretchy fabric would be ideal like this one.
In summer, satin or silk is the best fabric for a bandana because it’s cool, soft and light to wear on the head. Check out this large selection of satin/silk scarves in many different colours and patterns HERE.
4) Books to Make the Journey Easier
One of the best cancer gifts I received were books about what to expect after a breast cancer diagnosis. Some great books that make navigating a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment easier include:
The Silver Lining: A Supportive and Insightful Guide to Breast Cancer
Just Get Me Through This! A Practical Guide to Coping with Breast Cancer
If the patient has indicated that she’s wanting to a more healthier lifestyle, then these books can be perfect gifts for her.
Memoirs about surviving cancer can also be a good read. They are usually personal, entertaining and inspirational. It can give a different perspective to a difficult journey from someone that has gone through it all.
Some great books include:
5) Give the Gift of Nutrition
If your loved one seems motivated to live a healthier lifestyle after her breast cancer diagnosis then you can support her health and wellness journey by contributing to the tools she needs.
You can get her started on juicing by getting this book by Kris Carr, a long-term stage 4 cancer survivor.
And if you want to totally spoil her you can purchase a good quality cold-press juicer which retains more vitamins than conventional centrifugal juicers.
If you’re more worried about what she eats when she’s too sick to cook for herself or her family then help her out by dropping off some nutritious meals on her doorstep. If cooking isn’t your thing then you can look out for a meal service that delivers good quality nutritious food.
For a gift that she can use long-term then a good quality steamer can be a really good gift option that she can use even after her treatment is over. Steaming foods retain a lot more vitamins, minerals and nutrients in food than any other methods of cooking such as baking, frying, boiling and stewing.
6) Give the Gift of Laughter
A cancer patient has lots of free time to recuperate from cancer treatment, especially when she has taken time off work. A Netflix subscription can be a great gift idea, because there’s lots of funny movies and stand-up comedy shows to choose from that will make her laugh.
Going through cancer can be an extremely stressful time for the breast cancer survivor and their families. By giving them a good dose of laughter, you can help ease the tension and forget their troubles - even if it’s for a short period of time.
Other ideas include a cute cat sock like this one that will make her chuckle.
… Or a totally inappropriate adult colouring book like this one.
It’s never too late to give a gift to a cancer survivor. If you haven’t been in touch for a while since her diagnosis, then explain to her honestly and truthfully. Sometimes we don’t know what to say to someone that’s just been diagnosed with cancer, but at least after reading this post you’ll know exactly what to get her and show how much you care.