Hospital Gift for 75 year old cancer patient now with stroke?

londonsurrey

One of my neighbours. She's had chemo for a couple of years, widowed during it. The latest thing is a stroke, which has resulted in her losing control of one side.

Really nice lady, she has family who have clustered round her, so she's ok as in being taken care of. She's now in an acute stroke unit.

Other than knowing that a stroke can paralyse bits of you, I don't know the intimate minutae of the myriad of things that they don't tend to mention that are part of the "luggage" of a stroke.

I visited her the last time she was hospitalised for something else, but apparently she's not up for visitors this time. Is there something up to £20 that a stroke patient would find nice? One of those elaborate floral cards? She likes gardening and travel.

Penny-Pincher!!

Most hospitals don't allow flowers or plants of any kind now.

Hows her appetite? I always crave fresh fruit when Im in. Hope she feels a little more with it soon.

PP
xx

Torry_Quine

A good body lotion or hand cream as hospitals tend to have a dehydrating effect.

tea_lover

Depending on how severe her stroke has been she may have trouble swallowing, so I'd avoid any food unless you've spoken to her family about it first.

Tiddlywinks

Torry_Quine wrote: »

A good body lotion or hand cream as hospitals tend to have a dehydrating effect.

I second this...

Hospitals have a particular smell to them and sometimes it's really nice to use something to counter that institutional environment.

If she is so poorly that she can't have visitors then she will probably need some help with personal care - the lotion will be a lovely way to finish off the wash routine and make her feel a bit pampered.

Penny-Pincher!!

A good friend of mine made me a hospital survival kit when I went in last year for a few weeks which consisted of Lip balm, tissues, anti-bac gel, scented wet wipes, nivea lotion pot, sudoku book, pen, werther sweets, eye mask ad ear plugs. It was all put in a gift bag.

Mayflower10cat

An older lady who was a dear friend was hospitalised for some weeks with cardiac and renal issues - I made her a large lavender bag with very pretty fabric and lace, and used some of my own lavender from the garden, dried. Her husband told me that she'd loved it - she tucked it inside the hospital pillow case and she claimed the relaxing fragrance helped 'soothe her to sleep'. I also sent her some audiobooks on cassette as she used to have an old fashioned Sony Walkman- she loved anything by Agatha Christie.

orange-sox

Working with stroke patients before, I would second the no food unless you've cleared it with staff on the ward.

Nice toiletries are always a winner, comfy bed socks, something to pass the time (again, depending on the stroke their functioning might not be the same as it was previously, so I'd get advice) and a genuinely lovely "Get Well" card always go down well.

One of my ladies once received a lovely balloon bouquet which brightened up the place and she absolutely adored!

Bless you for being such a considerate neighbour :T