Food Channel

Skiffin16
Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I thought I'd throw this out here....

When I was going through the worst of the concurrent chemo/radiation and my taste was shot, not to mention my throat tore up so badly. All I could think of was food at times, LOL. I could smell it, still get the little tingles behind the ears that you get when you smell something tart ot whatever it is that triggers that sensation. Get acid reflux in the middle of the night I suppose from the acid that was dumped into my stomach from smelling food and salivating inside, because I had nothing in my mouth to produce saliva at that time.

So I kind of became obsessed with the Food Channel...Best Burgers, Best Steaks, Souths Greatest BBQ, Paula Dean, Man Against Food, Alex Bourdane....LOL.

I recorded shows on the DVR so that I could try different things once I got taste back... I've since erased them, but I do have a few recipes that I have acquired as a result....

Anyways, just curious if it was just some weird obsession that I was going though at the time.

John
«1

Comments

  • Fire34
    Fire34 Member Posts: 365
    Food Channel
    John
    You have to be kidding. I tried to eat anything while inpatient and one night I thought I was going to eat fish and I couldn't get to the zofran fast enough,smell alone. At my worst I couldn't even think about food.
    4 months out now and all is well, still have some trouble swallowing, but taste is coming back slowly and so is the saliva.
    Best Wishes
    Dave
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    Why yes, it is happening to me...
    John;

    Week six of eight is now well under way. I'm using the PEG now for everything except ice water, tea and broth.

    The sight and smell of food are driving me crazy. I dream of 'Diamondback Grill' Bacon Cheeseburgers and extra crispy sweetpotato fries. When family members cook, I hang out in the kitchen and inhale the food smells. Last night, when hubby was eating a ceasar salad, I leaned over his shoulder so that I could pretend it was me eating it.

    Sick, isn't it. If this attitude persists through the recovery process, I am going to end up obese, as right now I want to eat everything in sight.

    Deb
  • Fire34
    Fire34 Member Posts: 365
    D Lewis said:

    Why yes, it is happening to me...
    John;

    Week six of eight is now well under way. I'm using the PEG now for everything except ice water, tea and broth.

    The sight and smell of food are driving me crazy. I dream of 'Diamondback Grill' Bacon Cheeseburgers and extra crispy sweetpotato fries. When family members cook, I hang out in the kitchen and inhale the food smells. Last night, when hubby was eating a ceasar salad, I leaned over his shoulder so that I could pretend it was me eating it.

    Sick, isn't it. If this attitude persists through the recovery process, I am going to end up obese, as right now I want to eat everything in sight.

    Deb

    I wish it was to Me
    Deb
    As said aboe 4 months out and still have no appetite. Taste is slowly coming back and if not for the pushy spouse I dont know what I would do. Those sweet potatoe fries do sound good, where is this Diamondback Grill at. LOL
    Best wishes
    Dave
  • Hal61
    Hal61 Member Posts: 655
    Ear tingles?
    Hi John, I'm going to have to talk to my ENT. I've never gotten tingles behind my ears from smelling and anticipating certain foods. Darn, that's another sensation I'm now waiting to return, and this one I never had. I still feel like dancing when I smell warm cherry pie topped with vanilla ice cream though, so that's working.

    Hal
  • CajunEagle
    CajunEagle Member Posts: 408
    D Lewis said:

    Why yes, it is happening to me...
    John;

    Week six of eight is now well under way. I'm using the PEG now for everything except ice water, tea and broth.

    The sight and smell of food are driving me crazy. I dream of 'Diamondback Grill' Bacon Cheeseburgers and extra crispy sweetpotato fries. When family members cook, I hang out in the kitchen and inhale the food smells. Last night, when hubby was eating a ceasar salad, I leaned over his shoulder so that I could pretend it was me eating it.

    Sick, isn't it. If this attitude persists through the recovery process, I am going to end up obese, as right now I want to eat everything in sight.

    Deb

    Well.....If you think that's sick
    I used to hide Bon Appettit magazine under the bed so I wouldn't get caught. Now that's sick. :)

    Larry
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    Hal61 said:

    Ear tingles?
    Hi John, I'm going to have to talk to my ENT. I've never gotten tingles behind my ears from smelling and anticipating certain foods. Darn, that's another sensation I'm now waiting to return, and this one I never had. I still feel like dancing when I smell warm cherry pie topped with vanilla ice cream though, so that's working.

    Hal

    Larry
    Larry, you're a sick, sick, man...LOL....

    Hal, the ear tingle thing I've always had...it's actually that place kind of way back in your mouth where your upper and lower jaws meet....like when you eat something really sour.

    Speaking of Cherry Pie AlaMode, there's a local BBQ place here in town that has the best. Fresh warm Cherry Pie with a Scoop of Home Made Vanilla Ice Cream on it....my wife and I split a slice the other day for lunch....it was soooo good. I could actually taste everthing which was special for me. I haven't been able to taste Ice Cream for a year now I guess.

    John
  • SASH
    SASH Member Posts: 421 Member
    FoodTV
    I watched and made lists of what I wanted to eat and places I wanted to eat after I was done with treatment. I must have watched probably a good 10 hours a day just dreaming of the day of eating these things again. I still watch some, but not as much and I'm eating almost anything I want, a few things are more different than others but I try if I really want it.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    SASH said:

    FoodTV
    I watched and made lists of what I wanted to eat and places I wanted to eat after I was done with treatment. I must have watched probably a good 10 hours a day just dreaming of the day of eating these things again. I still watch some, but not as much and I'm eating almost anything I want, a few things are more different than others but I try if I really want it.

    SASH
    WTG SASH....glad to see you posting (and eating well), I haven't seen you on here for a while, unless I just missed a post or two.

    JG
  • pattyanny
    pattyanny Member Posts: 544
    Skiffin16 said:

    SASH
    WTG SASH....glad to see you posting (and eating well), I haven't seen you on here for a while, unless I just missed a post or two.

    JG

    Hi Skiffin
    Well, I could not tolerate the smell of ANY food until, maybe 4 months after TX. I would go in a deli, or diner to get soup to go, and had to leave because of all those food smells.
    I did, however, dream of a big juicy, steak or cheeseburger, french fries!
    Food commercials would have made me drool (if I could have ;) )
    Lobster Fest at Red Lobster - Yum! Unfortunately, I still had no appetite after my stomach must have shrunk, until MD gave me Megace.
    Now I am eating bacon cheeseburgers, greek slovaki, anything and everything! Yikes!
    Great post Skiffin! I enjoyed reading everyone else's experiences with food. Lots of Laughs! Thanks all!Keep on eating - it gets better. Gotta go - time for a snack & a drink!
    Hee hee! Love & Prayers to All! Patty
  • Kent Cass
    Kent Cass Member Posts: 1,898 Member
    pattyanny said:

    Hi Skiffin
    Well, I could not tolerate the smell of ANY food until, maybe 4 months after TX. I would go in a deli, or diner to get soup to go, and had to leave because of all those food smells.
    I did, however, dream of a big juicy, steak or cheeseburger, french fries!
    Food commercials would have made me drool (if I could have ;) )
    Lobster Fest at Red Lobster - Yum! Unfortunately, I still had no appetite after my stomach must have shrunk, until MD gave me Megace.
    Now I am eating bacon cheeseburgers, greek slovaki, anything and everything! Yikes!
    Great post Skiffin! I enjoyed reading everyone else's experiences with food. Lots of Laughs! Thanks all!Keep on eating - it gets better. Gotta go - time for a snack & a drink!
    Hee hee! Love & Prayers to All! Patty

    Confession
    ...It started around 7-months after the last rad. I can't explain it. It was like, like, destiny! What could possibly be so enormous? Valhalla NOW! Yep= Campbell's Roadhouse Chili!!! Mustard and relish started me down this road to taste oblivion, I don't deny, but neither do I blame them. They were just players in the game the remnants of my taste buds were playing with my ego. Oh yeah. And, every workday at lunch, since- a can of Roadhouse Chili. Takes me the full 1/2-hour to get thru a can, but the agreeable (to me) sensations last for hours. Yes- at the great dining tables in Valhalla is served none other than microwaved Campbell's Roadhouse Chili. The Swede that I am feels compelled to advise all of you to this fact! It may be strange, but the CRC is true. Valhalla? Maybe.

    However, of course, every evening along comes the multi-ingredient chef-style salad w/orange French dressing, and inevitably another good day to be alive has been lived.

    It is so very good to be alive, 17+-months.

    kcass
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    Kent Cass said:

    Confession
    ...It started around 7-months after the last rad. I can't explain it. It was like, like, destiny! What could possibly be so enormous? Valhalla NOW! Yep= Campbell's Roadhouse Chili!!! Mustard and relish started me down this road to taste oblivion, I don't deny, but neither do I blame them. They were just players in the game the remnants of my taste buds were playing with my ego. Oh yeah. And, every workday at lunch, since- a can of Roadhouse Chili. Takes me the full 1/2-hour to get thru a can, but the agreeable (to me) sensations last for hours. Yes- at the great dining tables in Valhalla is served none other than microwaved Campbell's Roadhouse Chili. The Swede that I am feels compelled to advise all of you to this fact! It may be strange, but the CRC is true. Valhalla? Maybe.

    However, of course, every evening along comes the multi-ingredient chef-style salad w/orange French dressing, and inevitably another good day to be alive has been lived.

    It is so very good to be alive, 17+-months.

    kcass

    dude ur killin me!
    Since I am still not really able to eat normal food, I try really hard NOT to put on the food channel. It's just torture. The pizza and KFC commercials on normal channels are sometimes more than I can bear. :-)

    I was able to watch that crazy Zimmerman dude that eats all that really crazy stuff. You know, worms, crickets, and slimy stuff. Travels round the world. For some reason I could watch that without feeling cranky. lol
  • staceya
    staceya Member Posts: 720
    Kent Cass said:

    Confession
    ...It started around 7-months after the last rad. I can't explain it. It was like, like, destiny! What could possibly be so enormous? Valhalla NOW! Yep= Campbell's Roadhouse Chili!!! Mustard and relish started me down this road to taste oblivion, I don't deny, but neither do I blame them. They were just players in the game the remnants of my taste buds were playing with my ego. Oh yeah. And, every workday at lunch, since- a can of Roadhouse Chili. Takes me the full 1/2-hour to get thru a can, but the agreeable (to me) sensations last for hours. Yes- at the great dining tables in Valhalla is served none other than microwaved Campbell's Roadhouse Chili. The Swede that I am feels compelled to advise all of you to this fact! It may be strange, but the CRC is true. Valhalla? Maybe.

    However, of course, every evening along comes the multi-ingredient chef-style salad w/orange French dressing, and inevitably another good day to be alive has been lived.

    It is so very good to be alive, 17+-months.

    kcass

    All this sounds So yummy-
    All this sounds So yummy- well mostly the red lobster and the steak and the chef salad!
    I bought a chef salad on Tuesday and thought of Kent, but couldn't eat it yet. I am still eating only boost, soup and jello. I put protein powder in the jello. Now it tastes like rubber gloves.
    I pick up some scandishake mix tomorrow, which is 600 cal with whole milk. I am a nurse in a hospital, and the people I work with are checking in daily. If I don't start gaining weight soon, I will be accosted by one of my nurse friends with an IV and be given feedings on the spot! I am so grateful for their concern and support, it is a valuable resource. However it is hard to get away with stuff, like saying that I am doing OK, when they call me on it.. (Oh yeah, then why are you wearing 4 sweaters and you still look like a stick)

    Thanks all for all of the good words and useful suggestions...
    Looking forward to much yummy food,
    Stacey
  • Christmas
    Christmas Member Posts: 100
    Food Channel
    LOL!
    During the most difficult part of my treatment, (when I couldn't work, couldn't eat, couldn't do anything except sit in bed or recliner in front of the TV), I found the food channel. Loved the cooking shows. I didn't have an appetite for food, but I was interested in cooking. Rachel Ray 30 minute meals, Paula, etc. Never watched the Food Channel before that. I didn't want soap operas or talk shows. The Food Channel was my zone - no suspense, no violence, no bad news.

    Good to know that I'm "normal".
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    staceya said:

    All this sounds So yummy-
    All this sounds So yummy- well mostly the red lobster and the steak and the chef salad!
    I bought a chef salad on Tuesday and thought of Kent, but couldn't eat it yet. I am still eating only boost, soup and jello. I put protein powder in the jello. Now it tastes like rubber gloves.
    I pick up some scandishake mix tomorrow, which is 600 cal with whole milk. I am a nurse in a hospital, and the people I work with are checking in daily. If I don't start gaining weight soon, I will be accosted by one of my nurse friends with an IV and be given feedings on the spot! I am so grateful for their concern and support, it is a valuable resource. However it is hard to get away with stuff, like saying that I am doing OK, when they call me on it.. (Oh yeah, then why are you wearing 4 sweaters and you still look like a stick)

    Thanks all for all of the good words and useful suggestions...
    Looking forward to much yummy food,
    Stacey

    4 sweaters
    I postponed my appointment because I lost those pounds. I knew he would yell at me so I have to try like mad to gain back that weight in two weeks. I don't know what the heck I am going to do because I would layer stuff and wear my big wooly timberland boots, with leggings under my jeans, and 4 shirts on in the winter. Now it's warm. I am so busted.....

    Maybe rolls of coin in my pockets and down my boots? :D
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    Christmas said:

    Food Channel
    LOL!
    During the most difficult part of my treatment, (when I couldn't work, couldn't eat, couldn't do anything except sit in bed or recliner in front of the TV), I found the food channel. Loved the cooking shows. I didn't have an appetite for food, but I was interested in cooking. Rachel Ray 30 minute meals, Paula, etc. Never watched the Food Channel before that. I didn't want soap operas or talk shows. The Food Channel was my zone - no suspense, no violence, no bad news.

    Good to know that I'm "normal".

    Hidden Jewels
    This must be another one of those little "Hidden Jewels" that has resulted from our journey together...LOL.
  • cwcad
    cwcad Member Posts: 117
    Skiffin16 said:

    Hidden Jewels
    This must be another one of those little "Hidden Jewels" that has resulted from our journey together...LOL.

    I can certainly relate
    After my treatments I wanted to eat something or anything so badly... but everything tasted like gravel. Fortunately, smells were a good thing so I did not really suffer. In my weakest moments in recovery while laying in bed I would watch every food channel program over and over. I thought that I would surround myself with the food channel hoping to trick myself into wanting to eat. It helped pass the time but that is about all it did. It came back in time. It took over a year to eat comfortably for me.

    I remember the first item of food that went down with out tasting like gravel. It was Sugar Pops Cereal from Kellogg. Meat was the hardest thing to get to go down

    Now three years later my taste is back. I don't think it is as good but in some respects it is better. What I do know is I enjoyed broccholi spears last night. Pre-cancer I hated them. Does anyone enjoy the heat of pepper as a seasoning. I always liked pepper but somehow I love the lingering effect that it has on my mouth, tongue, and throat.

    Nice picture Sweetblood. Now start gaining weight.Please take care of yourself. later cw
  • Ibuild4u
    Ibuild4u Member Posts: 5
    Another Food Channel Watcher Here..!!
    John,

    Funny thing how that seems to NOW be my husband's favority channel..He would not have spent one minute watching a "cooking show" EVER before his cancer..I too,have put hours of food channel shows on his DVR...Sounds like the same lineup..:) ..I also recorded Throwdown with Bobby Flay..

    Take care...I just wanted you to know you were NOT alone when it came to the food channel...Perhaps you are "eating vicariously" through watching?...(just psychological babble here...lol

    Kathy
  • staceya
    staceya Member Posts: 720

    4 sweaters
    I postponed my appointment because I lost those pounds. I knew he would yell at me so I have to try like mad to gain back that weight in two weeks. I don't know what the heck I am going to do because I would layer stuff and wear my big wooly timberland boots, with leggings under my jeans, and 4 shirts on in the winter. Now it's warm. I am so busted.....

    Maybe rolls of coin in my pockets and down my boots? :D

    Could you try adding a few
    Could you try adding a few more velcroed dogs? Maybe bigger ones...
    :) stacey
  • Kent Cass
    Kent Cass Member Posts: 1,898 Member
    cwcad said:

    I can certainly relate
    After my treatments I wanted to eat something or anything so badly... but everything tasted like gravel. Fortunately, smells were a good thing so I did not really suffer. In my weakest moments in recovery while laying in bed I would watch every food channel program over and over. I thought that I would surround myself with the food channel hoping to trick myself into wanting to eat. It helped pass the time but that is about all it did. It came back in time. It took over a year to eat comfortably for me.

    I remember the first item of food that went down with out tasting like gravel. It was Sugar Pops Cereal from Kellogg. Meat was the hardest thing to get to go down

    Now three years later my taste is back. I don't think it is as good but in some respects it is better. What I do know is I enjoyed broccholi spears last night. Pre-cancer I hated them. Does anyone enjoy the heat of pepper as a seasoning. I always liked pepper but somehow I love the lingering effect that it has on my mouth, tongue, and throat.

    Nice picture Sweetblood. Now start gaining weight.Please take care of yourself. later cw

    Pepper Seasoning
    The pepper-like heat is what Campbell's Roadhouse Chili is all about, cwcad. The taste lasts for hours. Comes in microwave containers, takes 2 1/2-minutes at High power, does take a good 1/2-hour to ingest, but it truly is worth it, to me. Try the Roadhouse Chili, cwcad, and let us know what you think. Just might blow your mind to the Positive, as it did mine.

    kcass
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    staceya said:

    Could you try adding a few
    Could you try adding a few more velcroed dogs? Maybe bigger ones...
    :) stacey

    stacey
    you just made peach resource boost breeze come out my nose. oww. my peg and tummy hurt from laughing.