Christmas Gift Ideas

I’ve read a lot here but never posted. A little background before I get to my rather trite (all things considered) question.

My sister (51) was diagnosed with Stage IV in Summer 2020. Cancer had already moved to bone (hip/leg). Pin and plate put in. Lumpectomy preformed. Was put on Ibrance, Arimidex and Zometa. Things were good for a year. Scans were clean until August 2021 & scan suddenly showed a lot of progression. Spots on liver (biopsied) spots on cervix (was actually ovary which was removed) and recurrence in same breast. Oncologist determined her cancer gene had mutated to PIK3.

Drug protocol change, naturally. She’s now on Piqray, Faslodex and Zometa. It’s only been 1.5 months so hopefully we are on the right track and hopefully these drugs will work for a long time. Prayers are definitely a big part of our lives.

My sister often tasks me with research. I don’t mind. I’d rather read for her; she tends to find the worst thing and focuses on that. I know the big concern with Piqray is triggering diabetes. So did get a glucose monitor immediately. She’s hovering but holding at just below a pre diabetic number. Other than that, tolerating all the drugs well. Has changed her lifestyle since initial diagnosis. No alcohol, strict diet, no alcohol, lots of exercise, etc. We’re still working on stress; she has a very stressful job. When she was moved to Piqray, I did research on changing the already strict diet. We looked into Keto but ultimately are going with a very low carb diet (pre diabetic) 100 grams carbs/day as opposed to Keto’s 30-40 grams carbs/day. This has all been overseen and okayed by her oncologist as well as a consulting oncologist from MSK who is doing dietary trials on Piqray patients. He said Keto was showing promise but they have only done trials on mice. He hesitated to suggest Keto because it drains so much energy out of — even a healthy person.

So that’s my long introduction to get to a fairly simple question. I didn’t want people to think I was here trying to sell technology or apps. Which brings me to the question: What do I get her for Christmas? I started thinking about an Apple Watch. I know the Apple Watch cannot monitor glucose levels which is kinda what I wanted. Is there any 3rd party app that does that? I don’t own an Apple Watch so I don’t know what they can do in terms of health monitoring. Does anyone here use one of recommend one for a mets patient? And/or are there any apps that work in conjunction with the iPhone/Apple Watch that would be beneficial? I like technology but this is such a specific question…that’s why I posted in here.

Lastly, is this a stupid idea for a Christmas gift? Will it just be a constant reminder that she’s sick? I don’t want to do that but she does want to exercise, eat right, monitor whatever needs monitored, etc. She wants the best chance at living the longest life possible. So I’m trying to think of things that might help. Every doctor I see lately is wearing an Apple Watch. Do they know something I don’t? The other consideration, my sister is well off financially. If she wanted an Apple Watch, she’d get one. Although — I don’t know if she knows what they can do. But I’m not sure what exactly they can do for someone in her situation. Just looking for advice, I guess.

What do you get the girl who has everything? Everything, that is, except a clean bill of health. I’d love to get her something helpful to her health. I’m open to any input or ideas anyone has.

These boards have been extremely valuable to me for 19 months. So I also wanted to express my appreciation