Some offices/clinics have a wig exchange program. People donate their wigs once they no longer need them and sometimes they’re the really good ones. (Of course if your mom’s like my mom the thoughts of wearing someone else’s wig creeped her out more than spending money on one of her own; my mom’s hair ended up only thinning a bit- she never went bald at all- but she liked her wig so much she wore it anyway.)
My sister’s insurance company paid for a pretty good human-hair wig. They called it a “cranial prosthesis” or something like that.
StG
Many decide to wear one of those head wraps instead of the wig, when they actually lose the hair.
A Nintendo DS. My father just went through Chemo and radiation and he played games like nobody’s business. The Nintendo DS is nice because:
- It’s portable (get some headphones to go with so as not to annoy others).
- Has games adults will enjoy (Brain Age, Sudoku, Poker, etc.)
- Most importantly, it has a touch screen. Older adults don’t need to fool with buttons, just use the stylus and go to town.
Not yet mentioned - when my friend was going through it, expecially in the later, feel-like-crap stages, she found it hard to concentrate on novels but enjoyed crossword and other puzzle books. She said they passed teh time and kept her distracted but didn’t force her to follow a plot.
Plenty of good ideas above, the important thing is not to let her get too bored.
To go with the stationary and pens, try adding some envelopes and stamps as well. Crosswords or puzzle books always help time to pass, but a DS is a really good idea.
Can also I suggest getting some simple and easy things that she can do in between her doses of chemo as well. I always found Jigsaws being a great time consumer for this.
A dear friend of mine who is very religious (in a Pagan-ish kind of way) underwent chemo, as well as radiation, for lung cancer. She’s doing extremely well now, 3 years later, which is apparently not common for the cancer she had.
One of the coping mechanisms she used was to bless the chemo bags. The staff said no one had ever done that before.
Obviously that’s not the right approach for everyone – just thought I’d share in case that information was of any use to you.
Good luck to you both. 
I sometimes work on the oncology ward and I think the single, best (non-medical) invention of the past ten years has been the portable DVD player. Even kids who are far too sick to do much of anything seem to get enjoyment from watching their favourite DVDs.
Does she do crafts? Does she like to knit or crochet?
I would also recommend some DVD/CD’s of her favorite comedians so she and your dad can listen to them. I must have seen Bill Cosby Himself about a thousand times, and he always cracks me up. Same with the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, although if I had my druthers I’d drop Larry the Cable Guy and double Ron White.
I haven’t had to experience chemo, either with myself or with a family member. After the treatment, would your mom be up to stopping somewhere for ice cream on the way home? Maybe some gift certificates to nice restaurants would also help.
Good luck to your mom!
Give her a canoe paddle and a ticket to Thunder Bay – the Dragons of Hope breast cancer survivors are always recruiting.
Best wishes in getting through this.
With my mom’s chemo (for ovarian cancer–she’s fine now), the scheduling was such that eating on the way home was not desirable. (Although a gift certificate to McDonald’s would have been used for hashbrowns after her blood was tested). Nor did she have much appetite. But ice cream is a good idea–because it counted towards her high number of ounces of fluids she was supposed to consume in the week following the chemo treatment.
A variety of beverages, non-alcoholic and non-caffienated, but with flavor (calories optional) was helpful in getting those fluids.
Eating out was problematic due to Dad’s schedule, and Mom had treatments every 3 weeks–week 1, she felt kinda crappy. Week 2, she was supposed to stay home due to her lowered immunity. Week 3, she could pretty much do whatever she wanted.
Mom read the Mitford books during recovery. Also some The Cat who . . . (Lillian Jackson Braun). Got some quilting supplies, and never used them, but did do some cross-stitch.
For beverages, I highly recommend some of those flavored waters. There’s Fruit[sub]2[/sub]0, hell, even Target has a brand of flavored waters…I’m partial to the peach-ginger and elderflower-pear flavors myself.
Jodi,
I’m so sorry to hear that your mom is going through this. My best to her and your whole family.
I was at Brookstone today and bought one of these blankets and I have got to tell you- SO snuggly and comforting. This set has the blankie, the pillow, and the ubersoft nice socks. I think she would love to have this set while she’s there having the treatment and for sick days to come afterwards.