Gifts for 17yo with Cancer?

[busterpup]

H's cousin is 17 and was recently diagnosed with cancer.  They think she will survive but is doing 6 months of very aggressive chemo, meaning that she will miss all of her senior year events, sports season, etc (not to mention she feels like crap and is losing her hair).  We sent an itunes gift card but I would like to send a follow up gift or two over the coming months to keep her spirits up and let her know we're supporting her.   I don't know her well enough to send something too specific and I don't think she would be into any "rah rah you're so strong" type of things.  I'm thinking more something to distract her from her shitty situation.  But I'm at a loss.  Any ideas?

[Elsa]

Maybe buying her new release movies once a month?

Or, if she doesn't already have one, a netflix/hulu/amazon prime account so she can watch a variety of shows?

[rikki]

Lush bath bombs or other pampering type stuff. A subscription to People or Cosmo or another magazine. Adult coloring book. Fun socks.

[busterpup]

Mar 17, 2016 10:14:58 GMT -5 Elsa said:

Maybe buying her new release movies once a month?

Or, if she doesn't already have one, a netflix/hulu/amazon prime account so she can watch a variety of shows?

Oooh I'll see if she has a Netflix account.  That would be good to buy her a year.  She could fill her time with Fuller House  

[Blue Moon]

My 17 year old cousin liked Victoria Secret PINK gift cards for comfy but stylish sweats when she was undergoing chemo.

She also liked manicure kits, nice bath products (lotions, etc) We all chipped in money for an iPAD also.

[car.ramrod]

Mar 17, 2016 11:11:14 GMT -5 Blue Moon said:

My 17 year old cousin liked Victoria Secret PINK gift cards for comfy but stylish sweats when she was undergoing chemo.

She also liked manicure kits, nice bath products (lotions, etc) We all chipped in money for an iPAD also.

This.  If she doesn't already have an ipad I would see about doing a group gift.  When my DS was going through chemo he was mostly inpatient due to the aggressiveness of his chemo so he spent a lot of time on the ipad.  My DS had no energy to do anything physical so it was a great way to waste time.  Another thing could be a nice set of headphones if she doesn't have some.  Magazines and books are great too.  You could look into a Kindle Unlimited subscription so she can read lots of books for free.

I also like the idea of bath products (because the skin gets insanely dry) but be very careful with scents.  For some reason kids going through chemo especially end up with super noses and can smell everything.  It is like pregnancy nose times a thousand.  Normal smells would make him sick and depending on if she ends up with a port or hickman she may be unable to take baths but lotions and chapsticks are awesome.

Also some really nice blankets, pillow cases, and zip up sweatshirts are greatly appreciated.  If she is inpatient the hospital is freezing and if she gets her chemo in clinic a lot of time they are cold so it is nice to have your own stuff to make it feel homier.  And it is nice to have duplicates as stuff has to be washed all the time.

So sorry your family is going through this.  It is a hard time but support makes all the difference in the world!

[katiescarlett]

Is she interested in a wig if she's losing her hair? Maybe a gift card towards a wig?

[zarapipe]

I would think maybe an ipad, laptop or nice camera if she is into photography.

I'm sorry she is facing this- I wish her a fast and easy treatment course.

[lmb5109]

Comfy pj's, robe, slippers (do teenagers wear robes & slippers?)
Flowers, all girls like flowers right?
Maybe find out if she likes a specific book series and send her books
Gift cards to a pizza place for when she's up to eating

[timorousbeastie]

A few of the gifts I appreciated most when I was going through cancer were:

-Magazines; I had absolutely zero energy for anything that requires much of an attention span, so I had a hard time with books, but magazines were easy to mindlessly flip through
-Movies and favorite tv shows on DVD
-hats and scarves/bandanas; I didn't do a wig, but I liked having a big collection of those to wear
-a satin pillowcase; when my hair was falling out, my scalp was really tingly and a regular cotton pillowcase was horribly uncomfortable
-hard candies to suck on, since many chemo drugs can give you a weird taste in your mouth
-makeup, so I could attempt to make myself look a little more alive (on a related note, tell her to look into a Look Good, Feel Better program near her. They are free makeup classes for women going through cancer. The class itself was kind of eh in my experience, but I got a ton of free makeup out of it and loved using it all!)

The biggest thing of all I'd recommend is cards. I got a million cards when I was first diagnosed, but it meant a lot to me that some people kept sending them throughout my treatment to let me know they were still thinking of me.

[busterpup]

Thanks so much everyone - this is incredibly helpful! And many thanks for your good thoughts.

[skib]

Love the idea someone had for a nice pillowcase. My husband got me a Little Giraffe pillowcase for my birthday, and it is the softest, most comfy thing ever.