Gifts for Cancer Survivors Day
National Cancer Survivors Day is usually celebrated on the first Sunday of June. A beautiful day to celebrate the trials, hopes, and triumphs of cancer. We hope that this article will give you the 5 Perfect Gifts for Cancer Survivors Day.
Our story about National Cancer Survivors Day
He had survived cancer. He could survive anything else the world threw at him.
Stepping out of the car into the hot sunshine, Andrew was grateful to be alive, grateful to feel the warming rays of the sun on his face. When you have been sick for so long, every day after that seems like a gift, one that should not be wasted.
For the longest time, he had not been a fan of summer. He understood that this sounded crazy because everybody else loved summer, it seemed. But for someone who had lived in a colder climate for years, moving to the warmer climate of California had not been that pleasant. Initially, he hadn’t liked the horrible heat and the inability to sleep most nights.
Not anymore. Each day was a gift, and he was going to embrace it with wide opened arms.
His symptoms had started simply enough. First, he realized that he wasn’t shooting as straight as before when he went to the bathroom. And then he started having trouble urinating. He’d know that he wanted to go, that he needed to go, but he’d get to the bathroom and be unable to do so.
The first sign of blood in his urine startled him but didn’t bother him enough to go to the hospital, because he also didn’t like doctors. There were so many things he didn’t like. However, when he started to complain of pain in his thighs and started to lose weight, his wife, Ramona, voiced her concerns.
One morning, he’d been so tired, so weak that he couldn’t get himself out of bed. Ramona called 911 and had him taken to the ER.
Unfortunately, he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and while it was the most common of cancers in male adults and was fairly easily treated, he had waited a little too long. The cancer had started to spread to other organs. They found it in his bladder. It had also traveled through his bloodstream to his bones, hence the pain.
They gave him a 50 percent chance of surviving.
Andrew shook his head as the memories washed over him that summer afternoon. Now that he was on the other side of cancer, he loved to come to the park in the afternoons, to sit with a good book. Sometimes, he placed the book on the bench beside him and watched the young kids play and squeal and enjoy the beauty that was life.
The young mothers usually sat on the benches farthest away from the entrance. They were often on their phones but he could see that they were always alert, always ready to pick up a fallen toddler, to mediate squabbles. There were the occasional dads, but mostly the moms.
He remembered when his own kids had been young. He had been a busy, busy dad, never had time for his two boys and one girl. He had done all to provide a good life for them, but he hadn’t always been physically there. Or emotionally there.
They were now grown with children of theirs, living grown-up lives. He missed them terribly, often wishing he could turn back the hands of time, have a do-over.
Now, he was just a retired old man with all the time in the world on his hands.
He’d had a prostatectomy done, and the doctors had removed the prostate as well as some of the surrounding tissue. And then he’d had several courses of radiation. He’d been sick as a dog during his treatment, so miserable he’d actually felt it would have been better to die, to leave it all behind.
But thank goodness for Ramona. She’d been there, front and center. She’d shown him the tenderness that had once ruled their marriage and that they’d lost in the years that he worked round the clock. She held ice chips to his lips when he had been too tired to do so. She cradled his head in her laps like he was a child. She held him when the nightmares shot him out of bed.
The day he was declared cancer-free was the first time he cried since the cancer diagnosis. Sitting in the oncology office, he’d trembled, tried to stuff all the emotions he felt down deep into his belly, but how he’d failed. The sobs took him and his body shook uncontrollably. There was the relief, the hope, the joy, all rolled into one.
His cancer had been a wakeup call.
“Hi, babe.” He texted Ramona after he was seated on the bench park. “How about dinner out this night? Your choice of restaurants.” Five minutes later, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he knew she’d returned his text. For several minutes after that, he just sat, taking in the warmth of the day, listening to the squealing of young children not yet old enough to be in school. He drew in a deep breath, savoring every minute, knowing that he just happened to be one of the lucky ones. Because not everyone won the battle against cancer.
What is cancer?
Cancer is a genetic disease in which some of the body’s cells experience uncontrollable growth and spread to other parts of the body. Under normal circumstances, our cells grow and multiply to form the new cells that our body needs. As cells age or become damaged, they die and new cells replace them.
There are times when this orderly process breaks down. Sometimes, damaged or abnormal cells grow and reproduce where they shouldn’t, forming cancerous or benign tumors. Cancerous tumors invade or spread into nearby or far tissues and can wreak havoc on how the body functions.
There are more than a hundred types of cancer, and most of them are typically named for the tissues or organs where the cancers form.
Statistics show that about 39.5 percent of adults will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetimes. Unfortunately, not everyone who is diagnosed with cancer survives.
How cancer impacts lives
A cancer diagnosis can be devastating, affecting all aspects of life. It affects the emotional health of patients and their families. During this life-altering experience, some of the more common feelings are depression, distress, and anxiety.
Patients are confronted with their own mortality and often have a reduced quality of life as they fight their disease.
Beyond all these, the treatment of cancer also results in the loss of opportunities and economic resources.
Simply put, cancer is no fun.
National Cancer Survivors Day
National Cancer Survivors Day is celebrated globally and is an annual celebration of life. On the first Sunday of June (this year is June 5), many communities around the world celebrate cancer survivors, offer inspiration to those who are newly diagnosed, offer support for families dealing with cancer, and educate the community about the ongoing challenges of cancer survivorship.
All these are in a bid to encourage better research, resources, and survivor-friendly legislation to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors.
It is a day to connect, celebrate milestones, and thank those who have supported cancer patients along the way.
Special gift ideas for National Cancer Survivors Day
Here are Amoware’s recommendations for gifts for National Cancer Survivors Day:
Super Georgian 4 Branch Lamp
This is a superbly designed 19th-century Georgian brass adjustable lamp. It has a tripod base with ball and claw feet and a nicely turned column with a twist design to the base and a lovely design to the top. It is a beautiful branch lamp with four candle holders.
Lamps are often a symbol of hope and healing in several countries, reminding us of the heart’s capacity to overcome darkness. Lamps and lights are also an assurance of brighter days to come.
Why we love it: This is a perfect gift for lovers of antiques. Beyond that, we love the symbolism, as this lamp assures the recipient of better days still to come.
Reproduction of “Hope”
Do you know a cancer survivor who loves, loves art? We bet they’ll love a quality painted museum reproduction of “Hope” by George Frederick Watts.
Hope is a symbolist oil painting by George Frederick Watts, a 19th century English painter. This painting was drastically different from previous paintings that addressed the subject of hope. This is because it highlights alone blindfolded woman sitting on a globe.
She is playing the lyre that has only a single string remaining. The painting has an almost blank background, visibly featuring a single star. At the time, Watts was intentional in his use of symbolism that was not traditionally associated with hope.
While you may not be able to purchase the original painting for your loved one, you will do well with a reproduction that is hand-painted by a talented museum artist.
Why we love it: Of course, we love it because it fits perfectly with the theme of the celebration. We all need some hope in our lives.
Beautiful Siberian Tiger Painting by Leonid Afremov
This is a hand-painted recreation oil on canvas painting. It features a beautiful, colorful Siberian tiger, known for its courage, something most cancer patients and survivors have in spades. This artwork was created with oil paint on an artistic canvas and uses the unique Afremov technique of a palette knife.
This artwork comes to life with its texture, and the recipient is drawn into the setting as they can feel the strokes by touching the painting.
Quick facts
Size: 30″x40″ (75cm x 100cm)
Materials: Oil Paint, Canvas, Palette Knife
Medium: Hand-painted with oil on canvas
Turkish towels
Turkish towels are specially made in Turkey, originally invented in the 17th century in Bursa, Turkey, and used in Turkish bathhouses for centuries. Compared to traditional towels, Turkish towels are renowned for being super absorbent. They are also called Turkish Fouta towels, Peshtemal towels, and hammams.
Turkish towels are about the most comfortable towels made and are a great gift for cancer survivors.
Why we love it: Turkish towels are made to last, a reminder to that cancer survivor in your life that they are also made to last. Besides, who doesn’t love a soft, super-absorbent towel?
How to celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day
This coming National Cancer Survivors Day, we encourage you to gather with other celebrants in your community for whatever events are being organized. Events usually include park walks, dunking booths, live entertainment, parades, cultural dancing, and even dragon boat races. Really, there are often dozens or so diverse activities that people of all ages can enjoy.
Share Gifts for Cancer Survivors Day
Whether you are the one diagnosed with cancer or it is someone else in your life, whether you are now cancer free or still fighting the fight (and whether your loved one is now cancer-free or still fighting), it is important to celebrate life and the strength that cancer patients and survivors have.
