The Colon Club

Hi all!

I am putting together a chemo/care package for my dear mom. She will be doing the Oral chemo at home so she will be staying with me over the summer so I can be her nurse. I will be giving it to to her on 07/01 a few days before the start of her 1st chemo/radiation. She is very anxious and "on edge". I am even looking on Pinterest, but this group is more "Colon" friendly I have learned so much about different products and advice from this board. Please share with me what products were a "must have" during and after tx. Even clothing item advice would be great! I mainly shop at Target and Amazon! So far I have:

1. Ensure vanilla
2. Utterly smooth body cream
3. Soft blanket
4. Aquaphor



Thank you so much!

A really gentle face wash and moisturiser...my skin got sore patches starting after first treatment. Aqueous cream is cheap and invaluable.

My cousin made up a box for me with all sorts of stuff​ ... little sweet treats, a lovely cushion she made with a heart on... I took it with me the first few times as it was a comfort and a reminder that she was thinking of me. She included moisturiser shower gel etc all for dry, sensitive skin, bed socks and a set of little heart shaped led lights...planning to use them on my chair during my last session!!

If she is having Folfox with oxaliplatine..some warm gloves would be good. I needed them a lot and struggled to find some that I could wear during the day and still do normal jobs. Some folks only need them for the fridge, but, she'll need them at least by the fridge/freezer.

The most important thing for me was the support from friends and family....and this forum, so that I felt less alone on my journey.

I send my love to your mother and wish her well during her treatment. It's a scary time and your support is the most important thing.
Xxxx

Graham crackers may go nicely with the vanilla ensure. I try to bring saltines and peanut butter for my husband. Herbal, ginger teas are also a great idea. They help my husband with his nausea and are just comforting in general.

My $0.02, don't travel light to chemo. See if you can get your mom a rolling bag, like the rolling laptop bags lots of business folks use. She can load it up with snacks, drinks, books, crossword puzzles, and whatever else she finds entertaining. Chemo might also be a good time to try something new, maybe knitting, a hend-held video game, a new magazine, etc. A friend bought us a small "learn origami" set. It's good to keep the brain occupied to the extent possible.

Good luck. You and your mother will be in my prayers.

A Kindle/iPad/Books/etc? I would have lost my mind without distractions during the hours of chemo.

A charger pack for her phone so that she never has to worry about running out of charge.

I liked pretzels during infusion days. Also lemon hard candies.

Ginger helps with nausea.

Gingersnap cookies

Ginger ale soda

ginger root

Book of crosswords puzzle. Adult coloring book, etc

Lee

These are all such great ideas!!Thank you SO much! <3

The utterly smooth hand creme is a must! I like to drop some lavender essential oil in with it.

I always get a metallic taste in my mouth on chemo weeks, so I like to suck on icebreaker sours or really any candy.

You could make her a playlist to listen to while at chemo.

Sending good thoughts!

She will probably need imodium at some point. When I was feeling nauseous the melt under the tongue type were really great. So much easier to take than the large generic pills that you have to swallow. I don't know if you have to take steroids with Xeloda but I would get constipated on those days so I would take stool softeners those days. These aren't things that you take to chemo days but I stocked up at the beginning of treatment and never had to worry about running out.

I will def get the omodium, gloves, fragrance free body wash, and hard candies. I also got her lemon ginger candies. It's 85-95 degrees here in the summer and she complains of being cold sometimes and chills.

Lots of small bottles of hand sanitizer. There are those with aloe vera and moisturizing oils, it smelled good, and made me feel protected when my white blood cell count was really low. I had little bottles of them stashed all over the place, the car, jackets, work etc.

Xeloda's biggest issue is HFS (hand foot syndrome), which causes redness, swelling, and pain on the palms of the hands and/or the soles of the feet. She'll need to reduce friction and heat exposure to her hands and feet so have her avoid washing dishes, gripping things like knives or garden tools. etc. It even hurt my hands to open a screw-top bottle!

I used Aquaphor and then put on cotton gloves afterwards and that helped a lot. I also applied it to my feet before bedtime and wore loose socks to sleep. Cold compresses helped when my hands and feet felt hot. I remember sleeping with cold compresses against the bottom of my feet. Also, look for nice comfy shoes with a wide toebox and insulated insoles because your feet can get very sore.

Taking Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) may be beneficial to some patients in lessening the effects of HFS. I took 100 mg with each dose of Xeloda. Ask her oncologist before taking it though.

Also, watch the timing of Xeloda. It needs to be taken within 30 minutes after eating a meal, but it seems to vary for each person on the right time. I had a lot of nausea if I took mine too soon after eating. My "sweet spot" was exactly 20 minutes after finishing a meal. And make sure she takes it with a FULL glass of water, not just a sip.

I second the recommendation on ginger! I also found that Goldfish crackers were a bit help with nausea. Nibbling on them calmed down my stomach.

Hope this helps!

You can google 'Erbitux skin care kit' or follow the link here also for a nice free mesh bag with Aveeno soap and oatmeal bath and lotions and sunscreen samples. Good luck to your Mom!

https://orderlillyresources.com/order/m ... 0EA4D6166B

There are also some "must not use" products for chemo/rad, namely any kind of cream that contains zinc oxide, since zinc oxide reacts with radiation to cause radiation burns:
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http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=46560&p=340923#p340923