How you can help someone battling cancer.

On Jul 8, 2022, I woke up to a tumor on the side of my neck. For 914 days I battled. I spent 2.5 years getting infusions for immunotherapy, taking chemo treatments, and then endured rounds of radiation. I am most often asked, “What can I do to help you or someone I know through treatments?” Here is my advice.

1. Please don’t get frustrated with them when they decline your offer to cook for them. It’s not the same for all of us, but most of us have a lot of troubles with eating. If you have ever been pregnant, you understand cravings. Cancer cravings are more intense. For a lot of us, we can only eat what we are craving. Anything else makes us sick. If you want to help, give them gift cards to local restaurants or food delivery services.

2. Offer to help them with things like yard work! Physical tasks are crazy difficult.

3. Blankets are great but we get a lot of them. The first thing I see people sending to cancer patients are blankets. They pile up fast and people can only use so many of them. Here are links to some of my favorite things that I actually used often when in the infusion chair or at home where I physically struggled to function as a human:

   • Nothing beats a physical book, but they get heavy and when you are traveling a lot or spending hours in a hospital having an e-reader is a life saver! Kindle

   • For the avid reader, because sometimes even holding an e-reader is hard - Kindle Remote

   • A lap desk for those who still want to get stuff done but need to do it on the couch - Lap Table direct on lap - Free Standing Lap Table

   • Adult Coloring Books - Book 1

   • Fun Bracelets - Badass, F-Cancer

4. Clothing that helps!

   • Port Access Shirt - Long Sleeve, Short Sleeve

   • Fun Socks - Because we all need socks! Fun Socks, Fuzzy Socks

   • Funny cancer shirts. It really is amazing how injecting humor into your fight can help!

     • Unicorn Cancer Shirt

     • Radiation Shirt 1

     • Radiation Shirt 2

     • Cancer Cat Shirt

     • Stronger than the storm

     • Picked the wrong girl

     • Nacho your Average

5. Here are recovery items that also helped.

   • For those going through radiation Aloe Wrap for Sunburn Relief. This stuff helped keep my external burns to a minimum - Soothing Aloe Patches

   • Ginger Chews for nausea - Chews

   • Ginger Tea for nausea - Tea

   • Extra Large Heating Pad - No one ever talks about the pain associated with fighting cancer - Heating Pad

   • Again, the pain is more than just where the treatments happen and there can be swelling in the feet! - Foot Massager

   • There is always stuff needed for all appointments, having a fun bag to carry it is a great idea - Fun tote Bag

   • Disposable Vomit Bags - Keep some in the car!!! Trust me! - Bags

     This list is just an idea of where to start! I hope this helps!

     Much Love, Sue