Food

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Tonita
Tonita Member Posts: 197 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

I've been trying to experiment with what I can manage.  It's so discouraging sometimes since I considered myself a foodie before this happened.  I love to cook and have always avoided the processed and pre-packaged stuff. 

Now I can manage a few things that I couldn't before.  Cottage cheese with diced (very tiny) melon.  Tonight I tried orzo pasta with sauce and some parmesan.  It tasted so good (I love pasta) and I managed to get my pills down with it as well.  Everything is trial and error at this point but at least I can get a variety.  I even managed to have a muffin with coffee.  I just take small pieces of the muffin soaked with the coffee.  Goes down great and really hit the spot.  I still can't chew really.  Tongue is lopsided so one side is really thick.  I think that interferes.

Last week I was in tears because I was so hungry so I guess I have progressed. 

Comments

  • MarineE5
    MarineE5 Member Posts: 1,030 Member
    #2
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    It is a slow process

    Tonita,

    Please try to measure your progress in weeks and not days. Once in awhile, try going to a Chinese Buffet or any Buffet so you can sample the food to see what works and what doesn't. Remember, slow and steady.

    My Best to You and Everyone Here

  • slk2015
    slk2015 Member Posts: 54
    #3
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    Food

    I usually don't eat much processed food, but I did moreso after the surgery.  As I mentioned elsewhere, I did get a food processor and made my own smoothies and stuff.  Baby food was horrible--I know why the kids hate it!  So homemade blenderized food became my mainstay. 

    I understand on the wanting food so bad.  In October, I had all my top teeth pulled.  I got a top denture in February and then had other mouth problems.  This week I ate onion rings and bacon for the first time in five months!  My husband was estatic--not only that I could eat bacon, but he could too.  He was so sweet--he wouldn't eat bacon as long as I couldn't.Laughing

    So far, I've learned to eat and speak after having part of my tongue removed, top teeth pulled and now dentures!  Some days people probably wonder if I have a speech impediment, especially when my tongue feels thick.  So I just repeat myself and keep trying.  It does get easie and as you master something, you'll feel motivated to keep going.  It's just one giant learning experience--a frustrating, tear-your-hair-out-at-times experience--but a learning experience no less.  You'll know more about how your mouth and tongue work than you ever wanted to know.

  • Barbaraek
    Barbaraek Member Posts: 626
    #4
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    Small victories add up!

    Good going Tonita! Those small steps will carry you just as far as the giant leaps..it just takes longer. It's good that you are willing to try things and are experimenting. I remember my husband was (and is still to some extent) petrified of swallowing for fear of choking. You are courageous! Keep it up :) Check your local library or Amazon for cookbooks that are specifically written for easy chew/easy swallow. I ordered a few and have used them because I wanted to avoid prepackaged foods too. Maybe you'll find some recipes you like in some of them. 

    Barbara

  • wmc
    wmc Member Posts: 1,804
    #5
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    It can seem to take forever.........

    Yes it is a slow process. Tounge surgery can take some time to heal and then get it back to a knd of normal. Nerves heal about a inch a month. Day by day you wont notice much, but if you lok from week or month to month, you will see all the progress. It seems slow day to day. It will get much better. 

    When my wife was about 35 she severed the main nerve in her right leg. No feeling from the knee down. She was told it most likely would never come back, and if it did it would be 30+ years. Well she worked with it and one day all the feeling came back. Oh the pain she was in took some time to get used to and it went away. Her doctor was astounded and asked what she did to get the nerve to reroute itself. She was doing martial arts with me and really just kicking me and it came back. The doctor said you have a heart condition and can't do that. She explained it was at home and I was teaching her and she mostly just hit and kicked me. I did not hit or kick her. She was told maybe 30+ years to get the feeling, and got it back in less than 5. I did have to use padding as her kicks got pretty good. 

    You are doing very good, and just keep trying everything.

    Bill

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #6
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    Hi Tonita

    When I was still able to eat by mouth it always took me a little more than an hour to eat. I would sit down before anyone else and start eating, then they would all come finish and left me there still eating. But give it time and you will learn to adjust to the new normal but it might never be that you will be able to eat fast again. But just be glad you are still able to eat normal. This May will make 4 years I been eating by the PEG Tube only, I don’t like it because I can’t taste anything but I am alive and I am thankful to God for that.

     

    Tim

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