Odd question: Chemo and Soap

[mala]

I make soap. There's a good chance my father in law will be starting chemo in the near future (won't have any answers or a definitive plan for at least 6 weeks). Soap takes time to cure so if I want to make him something I should make it now so it's ready by the time he needs it. The question is beyond an unscented soap, what does he need? No coconut oil? Oatmeal? Goats milk soap? Or is it a terrible idea and he's going to need to use something specific from his doctor?

[circa1978]

I've had two parents on chemo and there were no soap restrictions.

[nospaekae]

I make goats milk soap and when my aunt went through chemo she requested scent-free since she was sensitive to smells. I made her a big batch of oatmeal goats milk soap - not oatmeal, milk, & honey, just plain unscented oatmeal. I'm not aware of any soap restrictions and she seemed happy with it.

[mysteriouswife]

Unless it’s skin cancer I don’t think there will be restrictions. My mom and aunt could not handle certain smells.

[Alex]

The main side effect of the chemo I took was a hand-foot skin condition. I just searched my email and this is from my handout. It is the only mention of soap/cream:

Hand-foot skin reaction may occur during capecitabine treatment. The palms of your hands and soles of your feet may tingle, become red, numb, painful, or swollen. Skin may also become dry or itchy. You may not be able to do your normal daily activities if blisters, severe pain or ulcers occur.

Management:
• Avoid tight-fitting shoes or rubbing pressure to hands and feet, such as that caused by heavy activity.
• Clean hands and feet with lukewarm water and gently pat to dry; avoid hot water.
• Apply lanolin-containing creams (eg. BAG BALM®, UDDERLY SMOOTH®) to hands and feet liberally and often.
• Tell your cancer doctor at the next visit if you have any signs of hand-foot skin reaction.
• Stop taking capecitabine and call your cancer doctor if the skin reaction is painful, as your dose may need to be changed. Taking a lower dose does not affect the usefulness of capecitabine.

[sonrisa]

I wouldn't make a chemo patient soap.

Both my father and MIL became very sensitive to things like soap when undergoing cancer treatment (neither skin related). After trying dozens of fancy and ordinary options, the only thing my MIL could tolerate is a specific soap that went off the market this fall. (The french orange blossom soap from Trader Joes. I brought some for her to try because that was the only thing that worked for me when I had newborns. I've tried 10 options since they stopped making it and nothing works as well for my hands).

[Susie]

My mom had an ostomy (actually a couple different ostomies over time) concurrently with chemo, all wrapped up in her cancer treatment.  She needed to use Ivory during that time around the stoma, which translated to just using Ivory as her soap, but I don't remember any restrictions that related to the chemo.

[rubytue]

I don’t recall any soap issues from my two sets. Non-drying, because the skin gets dry and sensitive. FWIW, I didn’t have issues with smells, and I still loved all the scented stuff. Mostly lotions. So much lotion and hand cream.

Best wishes to you FIL.