One of my kids teammates got kicked in the face tonight and will be out of action for months. She has lost teeth and has a broken jaw. I could send flowers, but so will everyone else. What might be a good alternative that she would use? She won’t be hospitalised for long, so DVD’s aren’t a good option. She just needs something that might cheer her up for a period of time while she is inactive,
She is a senior in high school and will be attending a good college in autumn.
I am just asking what might ease her pain over the short term. Longer than flowers.
One time we had a family member in the hospital and got fortune cookies and carefully extracted the actual fortunes and put in our own. It went over well with the hospitalized one.
If you’re looking for something edible, ice cream (but nothing with nuts, candy or other lumpy stuff). If you’re going for a visit, a stop for a milkshake would be good. Other than that, books, video games, a craft kit or a mani-pedi set (and some funky nail polish colors).
She will likely feel up to being a little more active after a week or two, so anything to relieve the boredom for that amount of time.
Even if she’ll be out of the hospital pretty soon, she’s still probably going to be pretty inactive for quite a while.
DVDs sound good (though perhaps a bit pricey, unless you know the girl well), but you might consider something more like a book, which will last longer and cost less.
Blender is my suggestion too. Nothing wrong with having a couple either as one might be in the dishwasher, wear out, etc.
A buddy who’s a big time hunter had his broken in college. I remember him getting so hungry for a regular meal, something other than smoothies and stuff that he took some venison, potatoes, peas, everything and just blended it all in together and sucked it down with a straw. Sounds to me like it’s a good way to help get her life back as close to normal as possible.
A girl I knew was in a car accident and had her jaw wired shut. She got so desperate for something other than soups and smoothies, that she blended a burrito supreme from Taco Bell. She said it wasn’t too bad, but man, that must’ve sucked.
An MP3 player if she doesn’t have one, a gift certificate to the iTunes store if she uses that. The iTunes store sells games for the iPod, so she could choose between games or music or audiobooks.
A pocket wirecutter so her wires can be cut quickly if she vomits, to prevent aspiration of the vomitus; this would be a thoughtful gift in my opinion.
A note to people who haven’t actually dealt with someone who has his/her jaws wired shut: they can’t suck through straws. Everything they take in has to be gotten in between the teeth. Thick milkshakes are, therefore, out of the question.
When my teeth were wired shut after jaw surgery, I was extremely self-conscious. One of my friends got me a gift certificate to a salon/spa, so I could get a nice hair cut and manicure/pedicure. Having pretty toenails did make me feel better about my misshapen/bruised face.
A hand-held game is always good. When my dad was recovering from a staph infection, I bought him a hand-held Tetris game. He later told me that that game saved his life.
I’d probably actually get this for someone as I’d expect they’d find it funny and be a bit cheered up by that. I’d get something else too, but oh yes there would be jaw breakers.
How about finding a way to get her a loan of musical instrument (string not wind). TV, books and games get pretty boring after awhile. A person with a few weeks on their hands could get pretty darn good on a guitar, mandolin or banjo in that time if they practiced an hour or so a day. There are tons of free banjo (for example) lessons on Youtube that are first-rate. Then wow, what a great story she has to tell when she later tells people why she plays the banjo!