Cholesterol Concern Week 6 of treatments

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Nancy24
Nancy24 Member Posts: 72 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

I'm not sure if anyone can provide advice, but I just need to vent. I've read most of the posts on here and have followed much of the advice so I am very thankful for those who share their experiences and suggestions. Definitely get more helpful information here than from oncologists!

I'm the caretaker for my husband, John. He has HPV+ oropharyngeal cancer with two lymph nodes effected. No surgery. He is receiving proton beam radiation therapy at Scripps (35 treatments...25 down, 10 to go) and weekly Cisplatin (5 down, 2 to go). Compared to others who have posted here, he is doing well. Dry mouth but can still play harmonica. Uses Biotene products for dry mouth. Sore throat. Gabapentin seems to help that. The worst side effect is the taste issues. Most foods taste horrible with the exception of eggs, ketchup, magic mineral broth, apple juice. He dreads having to eat anything. He drinks smoothies made with Ensure Enlive, soy milk, peanut butter, bananas, protein powder. With two weeks left of treatment, he has lost 5 pounds. Maybe more...he is having bloodwork today and will be weighed again. 

Here's my issue. This morning he made three fried eggs and cut out the yolks.  When I asked why, he said he's not eating the yolks because of the cholesterol.  I stressed that he needs the calories and not to worry about the cholesterol right now.  (Keep in mind that we are vegetarians - practically vegans - and his cholesterol was around 180 before the cancer diagnosis.)  My mantra is that all calories are good calories for now. I don't care if he eats eggs three times a day.  He didn't want to hear this and he basically stopped talking to me at that point.  I know I'm his caretaker and coach, but this is starting to get to me.  It's compounded by the fact that we temporarily relocated to San Diego for the proton therapy so I have been feeling lonely and homesick.  I keep telling myself that this experience isn't about me...it's about him and I need to do whatever it takes to get him through this.  So I keep trying to stay positive and make sure that he keeps drinking multiple Ensures every day so he gets the calories and protein even though when I read that it is mostly corn syrup and sugar I feel sick myself.

Thanks again for everyone on this forum.  Your daily posts and the Superthread have been incredibly helpful to me.  I hope to be able help others when we are on the more positive side of this journey.

Nancy

 

 

Comments

  • Tonita
    Tonita Member Posts: 197 Member
    edited August 2016 #2
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    Has he had cholesterol

    Has he had cholesterol problems in the past?  I have and I eat eggs.  Not a lot, but I eat them.  I take medication for cholesterol but what truly got my numbers down was fish oil.  I just started being able to take my pills again.  6 per day.  My numbers were never better before the fish oil.  As far as the egss go, I wouldn't worry.  Try to buy organic and if you care to, check out my nieces page cinnammonhealth.com.  She has lots of advice and recipes for healthy foods and I think she did say something about eggs on the site. 

  • swopoe
    swopoe Member Posts: 492
    #3
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    My husband's nutritionist

    My husband's nutritionist said to eat anything you could eat- not to worry about fat, cholesterol, none of it. The thing I remember her saying was that if a piece of cheesecake blended into a milkshake worked for you, then to eat it. Talk about a high fat and calorie meal! So basically, there is no reason for him to cut the yolks out of his eggs. But he does sound like he is doing well on the weight loss front. That said, the egg yolks are full of protein, and he needs that too for energy. One day at a time...

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    edited August 2016 #4
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    3 eggs please, sunny side up.

    Nancy,

    My biggest issue to do with nutrition during treatment was calories then nutrition.  Plain and simple.  I did have a PEG, but was drinking meals every day, to keep my swallowing active.  I drank a lot of smoothies doctored with vegetable oil for added calories.

    Treatment side effects are bad enough without worrying about cholesterol.  This is short term, make it as easy on yourself as possible.  You can throw away egg yolks later.

    Matt

  • Barbaraek
    Barbaraek Member Posts: 626
    #5
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    Nancy I echo what the other posters have said...

    BUT, as caretaker - you have lots of stressors on your plate so to speak. I know you said that this "experience is about him" and I get that...but it affects BOTH of you. You don't need to be fighting more battles than you need to. So, if he's giving you a hard time about the egg yolks, don't sweat it and stress yourself out about it. You will have plenty of time to play with nutrition and calories during the recovery phase. Actually - if he has only lost 5 pounds so far and is eating by mouth, I'd say you're being really successful. So take a deep breath and hang in there. Give yourself permission not to control too much of the situation - trying to do everything exactly right will drag you down at a time when you need all your emotional strength.

    barbara

  • HelenBack
    HelenBack Member Posts: 87 Member
    #6
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    I hear you, sister

    My husband, just like yours, had a RELATIVELY easy time with treatment, didn't lose too much weight and was/is a vegetarian. Toward the end of treatment the only solid food he could eat was eggs. I made him smoothies every day (sometimes apple juice, ripe banana, organic whey protein powder and kale, sometimes ripe banana, peanut butter and whole milk, both with a good helping of flax meal). After a while, when I was concerned that if he lost too much weight and might end up with a feeding tuibe, I would sneak in some olive oil or cream for added calories. If he caught me he would get so mad, sometimes even refusing to drink the smoothie. Grr. Considering all the things the nutritionist said he could have that sounded like pure junk, olive oli and cream seemed innocent enough, right? Ah yes, I remeber the days as a caretaker, meticulously managing calories and texture, not too thick, not too thin, cold warm, etc.

    I don't have much advice except to say that I know how you feel. If it helps your husnband to know, my husband had high cholesterol (genetic) going into tratment, ate at least 3 eggs a day and had lower cholesterol after treatment, for whatever reason. In any case, a temporary uptick in dietary cholesterol is certainly completely harmless and eggs are a great source of protein which is incredibly important during treatment. 

    I imagine he knows that but may be having control issues around food at this delicate time, as was my husband.

    You're in the home stretch, and it sounds like he's doing so well. My husband lost a total of 15-20 pounds, most of it in the last two weeks, so keep upping those calories!

    Helen

    ps We liked a product called Orgain as an alterative to Ensure--decent ingredients, no corn syrup. Amazon, Vitacost, and Whole Foods carry it, sometimes I could find it on sale.

  • Nancy24
    Nancy24 Member Posts: 72 Member
    edited August 2016 #7
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    Thank you

    Thanks for all of the replies.  I think that somewhere deep down he knows that he shouldn't worry about his cholesterol right now (it's never been an issue since we became vegetarians over 25 years ago).  But I also think that he is not always rational right now.

    Helen, thanks for giving me some perspective. I hadn't thought that he might be having control issues around food. You might be right. My husband actually makes his own smoothies. I taught him how to use my Vitamix years ago, not knowing how much he would depend upon it now. He often adds coconut oil which probably isn't that great for cholesterol but I'm not going to share that with him. 

    Barbara: I will try not to stress out about what he eats.  I'm just worried that the side effects may get worse or last a long time and I want him to eat what he can while he still can.  

    It's amazing that he is experiencing no pain (thanks Gabapentin) in his sixth week of treatment.  He did tell me that the mucus issues started a few days ago but he is dealing with it.  He is actually a good patient and takes his meds and uses the baking soda/salt and water solution at least four times per day. I just have to make sure that he has everything that he needs.

    Helen: I'll look at Orgain next time I'm at Whole Foods. 

    Nancy

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