UTMB Medical Students Assemble Comfort Kits for Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

Second-year medical students at the University of Texas Medical Branch assembled 400 Chemo Comfort Kits to support patients undergoing the physically taxing and emotionally challenging treatment of chemotherapy.

Each kit includes a tote bag filled with a warm blanket, lip balm, a water bottle and tissues-simple items meant to encourage and remind patients that they're not alone during long hours in the infusion clinic.

Photo Caption: First row (LR): Sudhanvan Iyer, Julia Ding, Dr. Anne Lee, Dr. Avi Markowitz, RN Jennifer Perez, Michelle Trang, Elizabeth Denney, Janak Patel. Second row (LR): Chris Hsu, Alexander David, Karthik Devulapally, Ashwin Vivekananthan, Joshua Lui

The Chemo Comfort Kit project was created by Dr. Anne Lee, a breast imaging radiologist at UTMB, and fully funded through the "Class of 1973 Professorship in the School of Medicine" endowment. Lee's inspiration was to develop a care initiative supporting breast cancer patients, so distribution will begin in October, in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

As approximately 300 cancer patients are seen each month at UTMB, there are enough kits to distribute to not only those battling breast cancer, but all patients receiving chemotherapy.

"It's important for chemotherapy patients to stay warm, hydrated, and hopeful throughout their treatment," Lee said. "The purpose of these care packages is to help lift the patients' spirits and give them comfort."