Alternatives to Flower Arrangements: Useful Get Well Gifts

Recently my Grandmother broke her ankle and hurt her shoulder and neck in a fall which has confined her to bed and she is very bored. She will have a long recuperation and we realized flowers come and go, but is she is awake most of the time with little to do and has found daytime television very boring. She cannot sit up in bed long to read. At the same time, a friend's grandfather is in the hospital recuperating from surgery and it is hard to figure out gifts for either of them. Some ideas we have found useful:

While flowers are nice, depending on the circumstances, it might be painful to sneeze if they are recuperating from an injury or surgery, so before giving flowers try to find out if they are allergic. Sending flowers also gets very expensive and you usually do not know what will arrive. For the same amount of money as sending a flower arrangement which is usually $40 - $80, there are several things you can do for a sick or recuperating person that probably will be more beneficial or enjoyable. Do remember that the more unusual your gift is, the more likely you should include a small note explaining why you thought they would like it or could use it.

A Blockbuster Online movie subscription sends three movies at a time to someone's house, free shipping both ways for about $18 a month. The person can get as many movies as they care to watch, three at a time, with no late fees. They have a provision to give a gift certificate for a free membership as a gift to someone else. If the person is in your home and you have not tried Blockbuster.com before, sometimes you can get a free 1 months trial. Check Google for Blockbuster online coupon codes. You can give a subscription for from one to three months for the cost of a floral arrangement, which should get someone through a long recuperation.

Offer to pick up a favorite meal from a favorite restaurant and drop it off for their dinner or lunch. The person is likely eating whatever can be prepared quickly and is probably craving something like ribs, a steak, or just a restaurant favorite that cannot be replicated at home. On top of it, they are likely watching more TV than normal and keep seeing commercials for restaurants with those catchy jingles. Getting a meal for someone, even a rather expensive meal, will likely be cheaper than sending flowers or a plant and will be memorable. Many people gain weight during a recuperation since they have little to occupy themselves with and food can be very bland so a meal from a restaurant will likely be a nice treat. The sick person will not expect you to hang around to visit if you are just dropping off food, so this is a nice option if you do not know what to say to a sick person but want to do something nice. Another option is a restaurant gift certificate to a restaurant that does take out so that the family or person can have a break from cooking, or they can save the gift card for when they are feeling better and have a nice meal out. I think this is a great option for getting a guy a get well gift if you think flowers are not really their kind of thing.

A nice robe. If someone is recuperating for a while, they might be getting visitors and a nice robe will be comfortable and more presentable. If you have the cash, Frette makes robes that are amazingly soft and durable, very comfortable even for cancer patients skin that is usually raw and irritated from chemo or bed sores. If you know the person well, some nice higher thread count sheets will make sleeping and recuperating more comfortable.

Audiobooks. A book on tape is likely easier to listen to than attempting to hold a book up to read in bed. Remember that for most recuperations, it is not the same as having free time on your hands that you can engage in reading the same time of materials you do when you are not tired and medicated. An audiobook of a classic book might be preferred to crossword puzzles or other books, but that varies by person.

Spa gifts. A female friend will love the Tru Blue Spa Gloves from Bath and Body Works. A jojoba enhanced silicone liner to the gloves in tandem with a regular moisturizer gives hands a soothing treat. You can wear them for twenty minutes or overnight for an intensive treatment. If someone is going to be recuperating they might as well give their hands a treat. To that end, a moisturizer, or a waterless shampoo might be appreciated if someone cannot get up to shower or wash their hair.

Chocolate dipped Strawberries. If you do not have a lot of money you can make this yourself with some fresh fruit and melted chocolate. It is not expensive, you don't have to do a very neat job, and it is a nice change of pace for a sick person.

A phone card. Most people have cheap long distance rates, but a bored person might enjoy catching up with relatives at a distance on the phone while they recover.

A big, all purpose remote control and/or "The Clapper". Once you are recuperating and the process of getting in and out of bed is such a hassle, suddenly things like turning a light on and off are burdensome, especially if you have to shuffle along in the dark when you do not quite have your bearings. Shutting off the lights and TV from bed may suddenly be much more conveinent for a period of time. Many elderly people kept the older style of phone that is not portable, but now they could use a portable one while confined to bed. Many elder people do not have an answering machine and feel compelled to try to get up and get the phone when the machine could just screen the call. If you know the family well enough, talk to them about a few of these short term needs like a cheap portable phone, batteries and a more useful remote control, a little mini fridge so the person can have a cold drink whenever they want without getting up, etc. Many of these items would make it easier for the person to recuperate and would be useful after they get well.