Any ideas on foods to eat....

tko683
tko683 Member Posts: 264 Member
My husband just had his 3nd treatment of FOLFOX. He can not eat or drink anything cold for about 10-12 days after his treatment. It is getting really hard to find foods that he can eat and things to drink that taste okay luke warm. He is getting tired of soup and warm water. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as he has 9 more treatments to go and it is supposed to keep getting worse. Thanks for your advice.

Comments

  • christinecarl
    christinecarl Member Posts: 543 Member
    I stuck to comfort foods,
    I stuck to comfort foods, homemade soups, stews, pot pie, etc. As far as things to drink, I pretty much got used to juice at room temp. But I liked green tea and hot chocolate and cider. Red wine was good too, I sure missed ice cold beer :)
  • CherylHutch
    CherylHutch Member Posts: 1,375
    Foods!
    Sorry to hear hubby is having a rough go of it. It's true, the Oxypilatin part of the FOLFOX is what is giving him the "cold sensitivity" to foods. And it's when you can't have "cold" food that you think of all these foods that you just crave. So, the idea is to give him new foods, and a variety, so that he doesn't feel like he's eating the same old things and getting bored with them.

    Breakfasts:

    - Toast

    - Eggs - poached/scrambled/omelette/fried/sunny side up

    - Bacon/ham/sausage and Toast

    - coffee/tea

    - oatmeal/porridge with sliced "room temperature" berries

    Lunches:

    - BLTC - Toasted bacon, lettuce, tomato and cheese sandwich with mayo

    - Stack of pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, heated (this could be a breakfast or lunch meal)

    - Cobb Salad - lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced avocado, crumbled cheese of your choice, sliced hard boiled egg, grilled chicken breast/sliced and crumbled bacon (salad dressing of his choice)

    - Beef Dip Au Jus - Toasted Kaiser bun (or bun of your choice), deli sliced roast beef, slice of cheddar cheese... and a small bowl of Beef Broth heated hot (to be used for dipping); served with potato salad or french fries done in the oven

    - Egg Salad sandwich with cream of tomato soup

    - grilled Tuna Salad sandwich (Tuna salad - 1 can Albacore white tuna, green onion sliced, mayo or miracle whip, a tbsp of dill pickle relish, salt and pepper). Put the tuna salad between two slices of bread, butter both outsides of the bread and grill in a fry pan on medium heat)

    - Tuna burgers. Using the same Tuna salad recipe, put the tuna salad on the inside of a Kaiser bun. Place a slice of cheddar cheese on top. Put the top of the bun on top of the cheese. Wrap the burger in tinfoil and put in a 300F oven until cheese is melted and tuna is heated right through. Outside of the bun will be crunchy :)

    Dinners:

    - Pizza! (order in or homemade) For homemade, I do sort of cheat... I buy the pizza crusts that you can find where you find the wraps and tortillas... usually close to the bread section of the grocery store. Pick up a jar of pizza sauce (unless you want to make your own, then you can have jars of it in the freezer). Put the sauce on the pizza crust, then throw on your toppings that you have at home. Chop up a bunch of veggies, cube some ham, or fry up some bacon. Put as many as you can of the meat and veggies on the crust then top the whole thing with cheese.... cheddar and mozzarella :)

    - If you have a BBQ then BBW anything from meats to poultry to pork to fish. Depending what the meat is you are having, then you can serve a baked potato, or mashed potatoes or rice. Figure out a veggie or two to serve with it.

    - Again, salad! Go to allrecipes.com and put "Salad" in as a search word... a kajillion types of salad! So make a big healthy one.

    - Perogies with bacon and fried onions, topped with sour cream. BBQ or fry up a big old smokey sausage to go with the perogies.

    - Casseroles - tuna casserole, or mac and cheese, or even just a casserole of penne or elbow pasta (cooked) mixed with a can of niblet corn, a can of diced tomatoes, salt and pepper. You can sprinkle grated cheese on the top and/or breadcrumbs, then put the whole thing in the oven until it's heated thru and cheese on top is melted.

    - Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, with mashed potatoes and peas ... and of course gravy. Makes for a great Sunday dinner, then leftovers can be used for hot beef sandwiches for lunch.

    Desserts:

    The sky's the limit! All baked goods... be it something like a peach or berry cobbler, homemade apple pies (or whatever fruit is in season); strawberry shortcake using angel food cake, sliced berries and whip cream (no ice cream). Cookies, bars, rice krispie bars. All of these desserts can be made with more than one meal in mind so they can be thrown into the freezer. When needed bring them out, thaw them so they are room temperature, or in the case of the pies and cobblers, they can then be reheated so they are hot.

    As for drinks... that is more of a problem and one that drove me crazy because I like my cold drinks COLD... but it's impossible while on the Oxy. So, you can get cans of pop/juice and just don't put them in the fridge. Some taste better than others lukewarm so he'll have to try a variety to see which ones meet his tastes. But any of the hot drinks (coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc) he can have those... it's only the cold ones he can't have cold.

    Hope this helps and even if some of the things are things he wouldn't eat, maybe they will give you ideas of something similar that you can make for him that he will eat.

    Cheryl in Vancouver
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    Cider
    Hot Apple Cider, hot cocoa.
    Thinking of you both,
    Winter Marie
  • SisterSledge
    SisterSledge Member Posts: 332 Member
    Applesauce
    Applesauce is very good at any temperature, is easy on the tummy and good for aiding digestion :)
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    Watermelon
    and other members of the melon family. With lots of fluid content, they can help keep up the hydration, and do not need to be chilled (at least when you initially open them).

    My Oncologist recommended adding a protein supplement, and I like the powder form. In the mornings I use a blender to add it to my hot coffee (decaf, if hydration is an issue), and both chocolate and vanilla work well.

    I also make protein shakes in the afternoon. If you add just a couple of ice cubes to the blend it does not get real cold making it more tolerable, and adding things like blueberries/bananas/peanut butter can make an interesting drink that tastes good at just a slightly lowered temp.
  • tko683
    tko683 Member Posts: 264 Member
    Lots of ideas!
    Thanks everyone for the wonderful ideas! So many things I never thought of.....I will try some this week and see how he likes them. Thanks for reminding me to add variety as I think he is very sick of vegetable barley soup but I remember loving it when I had chemo. You all are awesome. Thanks again. Take care.
  • marqimark
    marqimark Member Posts: 242 Member
    tko683 said:

    Lots of ideas!
    Thanks everyone for the wonderful ideas! So many things I never thought of.....I will try some this week and see how he likes them. Thanks for reminding me to add variety as I think he is very sick of vegetable barley soup but I remember loving it when I had chemo. You all are awesome. Thanks again. Take care.

    Mentos
    I couldn't eat or drink--lost 55LBs

    I did eat a lot of fruit flavored Mentos

    I do not miss oxy

    Mark
  • Patteee
    Patteee Member Posts: 945
    Hi
    I not only couldn't drink

    Hi
    I not only couldn't drink anything cold, it had to be warm. In addition, the lining of my mouth was so sore and so inflamed for many months. In fact I still stay away from hot, spicy or crunchy foods.
    A couple of different things I did do- Boost or Insure, chocolate- put in a coffee cup, mic for a minute, sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on the top. I would nurse one of those all morning and it always tasted good and went down well. Cheryl mentioned toast, eggs, pizza- none of these I could - toast and pizza hurt my mouth to eat (I actually toward the end was on oral morphine, rinse my mouth out with it and then could actually eat!), Eggs were a problem, they stuck to the sides of my cheeks and the roof of my mouth, like peanut butter does. I would have to scrape it off! Nasty, yes. My appetite was always HUGE, but truly was limited on what I could eat.
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    Patteee said:

    Hi
    I not only couldn't drink

    Hi
    I not only couldn't drink anything cold, it had to be warm. In addition, the lining of my mouth was so sore and so inflamed for many months. In fact I still stay away from hot, spicy or crunchy foods.
    A couple of different things I did do- Boost or Insure, chocolate- put in a coffee cup, mic for a minute, sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on the top. I would nurse one of those all morning and it always tasted good and went down well. Cheryl mentioned toast, eggs, pizza- none of these I could - toast and pizza hurt my mouth to eat (I actually toward the end was on oral morphine, rinse my mouth out with it and then could actually eat!), Eggs were a problem, they stuck to the sides of my cheeks and the roof of my mouth, like peanut butter does. I would have to scrape it off! Nasty, yes. My appetite was always HUGE, but truly was limited on what I could eat.

    I could not tolerate ANY spicy food, even so called mild ones.

    No mouth sores, but any spicy heat and my mouth felt like it had been hit with a blow torch.
  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    Hi Tko
    My main nourishment during 48 weeks of chemo was quick oats made on milk with a good dollop of honey or maple syrup. Was easy to eat,tasted ok ,gave me energy and passed thru easily. My blood counts stayed normal and I lost no weight. Ron.
  • yoga
    yoga Member Posts: 87
    ron50 said:

    Hi Tko
    My main nourishment during 48 weeks of chemo was quick oats made on milk with a good dollop of honey or maple syrup. Was easy to eat,tasted ok ,gave me energy and passed thru easily. My blood counts stayed normal and I lost no weight. Ron.

    a couple more ideas
    Hi there,

    I am not on the same chemo, but I have had to deal with mouth sores. At times I have turned to 'Boost Plus'- it has twice the calories as Boost so will help keep weight on. I have also eaten a lot of plain Greek Yogurt with some baby food mixed in - the Greek Yogurt is very high in protein and the baby food just adds flavour without extra sugar. (Sometimes I have eaten room temperature baby food when I am really hungry and my mouth is very sore.) Another thing I have - almost daily to keep weight on - is a shake . . . . a banana, some mango and other fresh fruit blended with a large glass of water and vanilla protein powder, sometimes I add a spoonful of Greek Yogourt as well.

    Hope this gives you a few more ideas!
    yoga jo
  • Nana b
    Nana b Member Posts: 3,030 Member
    yoga said:

    a couple more ideas
    Hi there,

    I am not on the same chemo, but I have had to deal with mouth sores. At times I have turned to 'Boost Plus'- it has twice the calories as Boost so will help keep weight on. I have also eaten a lot of plain Greek Yogurt with some baby food mixed in - the Greek Yogurt is very high in protein and the baby food just adds flavour without extra sugar. (Sometimes I have eaten room temperature baby food when I am really hungry and my mouth is very sore.) Another thing I have - almost daily to keep weight on - is a shake . . . . a banana, some mango and other fresh fruit blended with a large glass of water and vanilla protein powder, sometimes I add a spoonful of Greek Yogourt as well.

    Hope this gives you a few more ideas!
    yoga jo

    I ate Bland things. Fried
    I ate Bland things. Fried potatoes in a tortilla, just a bit of oil. quesedilla. room temp lemonade. Top Ramen I also like casseroles like chicken noodle casserole or tuna. I could not eat salads. I ate chicken, potatoes, and yes, Marie Callander's pot pies.

    Bland...... I lost weight too.

    Ask your ONC for miracle mouthwash if he has sores in his mouth. Google it.
  • Kathryn_in_MN
    Kathryn_in_MN Member Posts: 1,252 Member
    FOLFOX food and drink
    What I tolereate with FOLFORI or Irinotecan is completely different than FOLFOX.

    On FOLFOX, I lived on mashed potatoes and Cream of Wheat for 7 months - especially the first 8 days of every cycle. When I felt adventurous I had a baked potato or a banana! Really boring... My usual fresh fruits and veggies weren't tolerated. Canned pears were ok. Potato soup. And I had Isagenix shakes with a banana added. (Usually the chocolate flavor.)

    For drinks, all at room temp - Gatorade, orange soda, Tahitian Treat, some cranberry blends, or other fruit juices. Warm drinks - apple cider mostly. I normally love tea and drink a lot of herbal teas, but they didn't go down well on FOLFOX. I am not a soda drinker - but when you need to get fluids in and nothing else will go down... On Irinotecan I've been drinking Arizona Tea sometimes. I could NOT have done that on FOLFOX because it comes in a can, and anything from glass or metal tasted awful on FOLFOX. I really suggest using plastic dishes and plastic silverware - and using a platic cup and/or a straw for drinking. It can make a huge difference in what you can tolerate.

    (With Irinotecan my food has to have a stronger flavor - bland things taste so awful I can't get them down...)
  • tommycat
    tommycat Member Posts: 790 Member
    gatorade never tasted so
    gatorade never tasted so good.....room temp and plenty of flavors. plus, as others have mentioned, any and all comfort food.