Hellobee Boards

I have a friend who the same thing happened to her! I bet she'd appreciate maybe gift cards for activities her kids and husband can do while she is doing chemo. My friend couldn't eat much because the chemo made her so sick but it helped her knowing her family was taken care of.

I agree cards and maybe a blanket would be great. Or even a little goodie bag of activities for the kids (sticker book, new movie, etc)

One of my favorite gifts was a really nice lip gloss set. The color helped me feel out together when I couldn't deal with make up.

Best gift if you want to splurge would be a cleaning service to come in for her!

I'm so sorry for your friend. Agree with all the previous suggestions. I think checking in with her to say hi (not necessarily asking for or expecting a full medical update) is also important. 18 weeks is a long time, and it will be hard for.most casual friends to maintain support for that time, so just being with her through it all is a worthwhile service, I think.

@Mrs. Carrot: how about a babysitting gift card since they don't have family around?

https://www.urbansitter.com/gift-cards

Urban Sitter has sitters in San Diego.

I went through this with a friend for many years. It is hard to be far apart when you friend is going through something like this. Hugs.

Some ideas:
*Cards/letters - I tried to send at least one a week
*Texts - I often sent something simple like this: "Don't worry about responding, but I want you to know I'm thinking of you. Call me anytime you want to chat."
*House cleaner
*Gift cards for take out
*Care packages - I included crossword puzzles, magazines, books, candles in nausea relieving scents, ginger chews/tea, unscented lotions, funny cards, etc.

*Stuffed animals - Ok, not quite age appropriate, but still kinda comforting I think. You could do something a little off the wall like this plush "cancer" toy - just add a cute message. Might be good for her to use to explain cancer to her kids, depending on their age. http://www.amazon.com/GIANTmicrobes-Cancer-Malignant-neoplasm-Plush/dp/B00AFHBWGO/ref=sr_1_3?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1438612644&sr=1-3.)

They didn't have that one when I was shopping for stuff for my friend, so I bought plus red and white blood cells and put signs on them (since the chemo she was taking at the time, yondelis, was lowering her red blood cell counts - thus the "make love not war" sign). Kinda goofy, but after a couple years, I was running out of things to send!

*Chemo cd - basically like a mixed tape with empowering or upbeat songs
*Relaxation/Meditation/Affirmations cd - havent tried this one, but I like others by the same author.
http://www.amazon.com/Meditation-Help-You-Fight-Cancer/dp/1881405354/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
*Hats/scarves
*Miniature zen garden
*Makeup/pampering products
*Photo album - we made a photo book containing inspirational quotes and messages from all of her friends and included pics of all her supporters
*Help with research - you might ask your friend if she wants help researching anything. My friend wanted help looking into fertility sparing measures, grants to pay for such measures when insurance won't cover it, help looking for clinical trials, etc.
*End-of-chemo "reward" - One of my friend's other friends told her when she finished chemo they'd go on a cruise. My friend said it gave her something to look forward to. Same thing with surgeries and other rounds of chemo... we tried to think of things for her to look forward to. Another local friend took her on a staycation to a local hotel where they worked on scrapbooks and ordered room service.

@Mrs. Carrot: Thank you - it was a pretty "interesting" year
@T.H.O.U.: thank you! I think I'll breathe a bit easier next year after my one year review - very low chance of recurrence of clear at a year in remission.

@T.H.O.U.: Congrats, 7 years is awesome!! I was so excited about clocking up three months in remission, pretty funny really! But I kind of keep expecting my dr to call and say, there's been a mistake, you need more chemo (shudder).