Stolen Chemo Bag: Cancer Patient Pleas for Thief to Return “Comfort” Items, Including Favorite Blanket

A Bay Area woman battling cancer is pleading for a thief who burglarized her car to return a bag containing items she uses to help her get through chemotherapy.

Marci Alexander’s car was burglarized Tuesday as she ate lunch inside the Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara. Taken was a big bag that held some personal information, her medications and “comfort” items, including a favorite blanket.

Alexander said her bag had everything in it she needs for the several hours she spends at the hospital every couple weeks.

“It’s just unbelievable,” she said. The items probably won’t mean much to the thieves, but to Alexander, they mean everything.

Alexander said she had stopped at the mall to eat after a chemotherapy treatment. “We had chemotherapy in the city and we drove down to Cheesecake Factory, which is my favorite, and came out of dinner and the window was smashed out.”

Alexander said the bag is “pretty distinct.” It has a big button on the front that says “Cancer Sucks,” something she knows all too well. She survived Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a child and is now battling breast cancer. “There’s gifts in there, things that people give you,” she said.

“It’s all comfort stuff,” said boyfriend Andy Yuan. “All stuff she uses. She sits there and she takes it and it’s completely useless to these people that took it.”

Besides her favorite blanket, the bag contained an iPad filled with photos, music and videos, medication – including one that helps with pain during chemotherapy – and her journal.

“Everyone has their chemo bag,” Alexander said. “It’s something that when you start the program they give you a list that says this is what you should have in your bag.”

Her boyfriend has been checking to see if they can track the stolen iPad using the “Find My iPhone” app. Yuan said he knows the odds of recovering the items are slim, but he hopes for the best.

“If family members end up knowing these dirtbags that took these things, and have some sort of conscience, and don’t want that kind of karma coming their way, maybe they can turn them in,” Yuan said. “Do something right.”

Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to contact the San Jose Police Department, which is investigating the case.

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