Resident leads effort to provide comfort kits to those with cancer

Each item in the tightly packed kit was specifically chosen to provide comfort to those struggling with cancer.

Playing cards gave them something to do during long treatments. Hand lotion and chapstick would help counter the dehydrating effects of chemotherapy. Chocolate candies were simply a treat to raise a person’s spirits slightly.

Taken together, the items were small tokens of compassion for people going through a terrible time in their lives.

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“Anything to raise their spirits a little bit,” said Shannon Cox, the Franklin resident who put together the kits.

Cox knows the toll cancer treatment can take on people. Too many of her family and friends have gone through it in the past; the disease touches so many lives.

So she gathered family and friends to do something to give current cancer patients comfort. Together, they helped put together chemo care caddies, small kits in brightly colored carriers that provided a wealth of items for those going through chemotherapy, a chemical treatment that kills cancer cells in the body but also takes a toll on other, healthy tissue as well. The treatment can cause fatigue, nausea, hair loss, extremely dry mouth and other side effects.

As she organized the chemo kits, Cox also worked with the Ladies Aid group at her church, Christian Chapel in Morgantown, to include a shipment of prayer pillows as well.

She took 30 kits and pillows to Community Cancer Center South to be distributed to patients. In a matter of days, they had all been given out.

“We are frequently thought of by groups in the community who want to touch the life of a cancer patient by knitting hats and blankets, making quilts and donating other gift items. Shannon’s gift baskets were very thoughtfully chosen and well received,” said Helen Caldwell, oncology cancer worker at the cancer center on the southside of Indianapolis.

The idea to create the baskets was born through a company that Cox works for. She sells Thirty-One Gifts, in which people sign up to sell items such as handbags, travel bags, home organization items and other accessories.

Part of the company’s ethos includes efforts to give back to the community in some way. Cox was inspired to make the care caddies.

“Cancer has been in our family, and I’ve been on a (Relay for Life) team for a long time. God touched my heart to really do this,” she said.

Reaching out to her inner circle of friends, family and close customers, she invited them to join her in the effort. Each caddie was in a bright, fashionable patter, and cost $15, plus the expense of the items in it.

Cox asked people who wanted to help to cover the cost of the caddie, then she would take care of the items that went in it. She would not profit from the effort.

At first, she was unsure what the response would be. That concern was quickly extinguished.

“My thought was to see if I could get 31 people to sponsor, and I had no problem with that,” she said. “People were more than willing to donate to a good cause.”

To stock the caddies, Cox thought about the kinds of things people going through cancer would need. Included in the kits were a notebook and pens, in case they wanted to write or draw during the treatment session. A deck of cards could provide entertainment during those long treatments as well.

A water bottle, hand sanitizer, peppermints and lozenges specifically for dry mouth were also put in the kits.

“I tried to think, if someone was going through chemo, what do I think they’d need?” she said. “What would be useful for them while they’re going through this.”

At the same time, Cox had another idea. A group of women at her church made prayer pillows — soft, comfortable, brightly colored pillows for those going through difficult times.

In each pillow, a pouch held a piece of paper with a prayer about cancer on it.

“May every cancerous cell be cast out and replaced with good ones. May every spot of this deadly cell be wiped out by Your powerful hands,” part of the prayer reads.

Cox worked with the Ladies Aid group at the church to make 31 pillows to go along with the kids.

“Anywhere we can take them and give people a little hope, we want to do that, so we thought this was a great idea,” said Karen Santerre, president of the Ladies Aid group at Christian Chapel Church.

The pillows would serve an important function, specifically designed for those going through cancers treatments, Caldwell said. Many patients have a device called a port implanted in their chests, which delivers chemotherapy directly to the bloodstream.

“Patients used those pillows while in treatment, and then in the car to keep the seatbelt from directly pressing on the port,” Caldwell said.

Cox had reached out to Caldwell about dropping off the items, and in January, she took them to the hospital. She brought the four big boxes into Community Cancer Center South, and received an overwhelming response.

The gift blew her away, Caldwell said. Nursing staff described it as a lovely distraction for patients during what is often a stressful time.

Within days, the kits had all been distributed. One patient who was receiving treatment for the first time told Caldwell the gift was wonderful, allowing them to play cards, relax and get their mind off why they were at the hospital.

“The baskets were very different from what patient’s typically receive,” Caldwell said.

The response was so positive that Caldwell asked if Cox was going to do a second round. Now, she is reaching out to an even larger group of people, opening it up to the community if they’d like to help her put together another batch.

“This was the first time I’d ever done anything like this. It was just my family and people in my church. If I reach out to more people, think what we can do,” Cox said. “I probably could have taken up 100 and they’d be gone.”

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Cancer Care Caddies

What: Kits put together to provide comfort to those going through cancer treatments

Who: Shannon Cox, a Franklin resident

What does it include: Kits cost $15, and are held in a stylish, sturdy tote. The kids include items such as water, notebooks, hand lotion, tissues and candy. An inspirational key fob can be added for an additional $5.

How to help: People willing to help sponsor a kit can contact Cox at [email protected]. They can also donate through PayPal at the same email address; send as a friend to avoid fees, and include the note “Cancer Care Caddy.”

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