THE BUDDY BASKET STORY
Chemo Buddy Club started with a gift basket, but not just any gift basket. After breast cancer surgery, my niece Jan started a regime of 12
chemotherapy treatments. At the start of her treatments, I gave her a basket of 12 individually wrapped gifts numbered 1-12--one to coincide
with each chemo treatment.
Jan was instructed to open a gift after each chemo treatment. Each little gift was wrapped in white tissue paper and placed in its own
cellophane bag. I also put a little label on the front of the package. The labels said things like, “Gift No. 1 - Here’s a little something to keep
your head warm on cold nights.” That particular gift was a cozy sleep cap that I knew she would need since she was losing her hair from the
chemo. The label on another gift of booties and coffee mug said, “Gift No. 3 - Put your feet up, relax and enjoy a cup of tea.”
All 12 gifts were placed in a gift basket and covered with a cellophane bag and big bow. Once Jan pulled off the cellophane, the basket sat by
her TV chair as a constant reminder that she had a special gift waiting to be opened after each chemo treatment, and that her Aunt JoJo loved
her very much.
Jan would call me after each treatment and upon opening a gift. She would tell me how she was feeling and how the treatment had gone, and
then “ooh and ah” about her little gift. One nice thing about the buddy basket program was that I was able to follow Jan through her
treatments without constantly calling her and wondering if my call was at a convenient time. Instead, Jan would faithfully call me after
opening a gift. So, I was able to walk the journey with her without feeling like I was intruding into her private time, when I didn’t know if she
would feel (mentally or physically) like taking an outside phone call.
At the end of the long chemo treatment therapy, there was a “celebration package” left in the basket for her and the family to open. This gift
pack is now standard in all our gift baskets and includes balloons, noise makers and party items. Jan and her husband Rick let 8-year old son
Jason open this last gift, and they had a little party to celebrate the end of this long ordeal.
As Jan’s chemo buddy, I continued to encourage her throughout radiation by sending special cards and an occasional gift. All in all both Judi
and Jan’s cancer ordeals were scary, yet confident journeys. I prayed like never before and added them both to just about everybody’s
prayer list. Jan is now a 4-year survivor and my sister Judi is a 5-year survivor.
Good luck ! I think you will see that even though you are giving to the patient and making their world a little brighter, you are the one really
receiving the blessings!
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