By ANEEKA SIMONIS
IT’S hard to know what to get a loved one as they go through chemotherapy.
“You can’t get (patients) flowers as the treatment causes their immune system to drop, so they can’t be around pollen and the medication upsets their stomachs, so they don’t want chocolate,” said a Beaconsfield woman who has created the perfect gift for cancer sufferers.
Heidi Green together with Sharron Schreurs, a Berwick oncology nurse of 16 years have put their heads together to bring cancer patients a practical and thoughtful kit to soothe their difficult journey to recovery.
Packed with nausea medication, sick bags, massage balls, tummy wellness tea and skin care formulated specifically for people going through chemotherapy, the practical care kits address the calls of countless men and women after all-in-one comfort and care.
“When my mother-in-law went through breast cancer, she needed to live with us as she was in the country. Unfortunately, she lost her battle, but I had lived and breathed it with her as her carer for a couple of months,” said Heidi as she talked of her late mother-in-law, the inspiration of the chemo care kits.
“I had brought her the things in the pack but only after her symptoms developed. It would have been way more advantageous to her if she had all the items there in one box for her to use when she needed them rather than me driving from pharmacy to pharmacy after a nurse had recommended something,” Heidi said.
The practical packs, which are stocked at St John of God Hospital in Berwick, come in two varieties: standard and deluxe valued at $55 and $120, respectively.
“It’s a pack that just keeps on giving,” one man told the pair of the kit he brought his wife suffering through chemotherapy.
Heidi said despite launching the kits only in May this year, they have already sold quite a few and will donate 10 per cent of the proceeds to the Berwick hospital’s new oncology unit.
To find out more about the pack or make an order, visit www.practicalcare.com.au.
