first restaurant trip

blackswampboy

5+ months post treatment, finally bit the bullet and ate in public tonight.
wish I could say the eating part was fun, but points for trying anyway. ;-)
taste was working OK, but the trismus is not fun. got down some seafood soup, a bit of pork fried rice (had to spit out the pork, yuk), and one jiao-dz (steamed potsticker).

some of the soup came out my nose. hope it wasn't too embarrassing for my companions, lol.

Skiffin16

Congrats...
It'll only getter better with time I'm sure.

Happy Holidays,
John

NJShore

Congrats
Congrats, so glad to hear you tried going out. And hope it's the first of many enjoyable meals out!

Kari

cureitall66

Great!
Another step/accomplishment to help you continue to move forward with your eating. I certainly can't wait until we reach that! We're still trying to get a drinking straw with water past the mucus. : )

~C

Ingrid K

cureitall66 said:

Great!
Another step/accomplishment to help you continue to move forward with your eating. I certainly can't wait until we reach that! We're still trying to get a drinking straw with water past the mucus. : )

~C

good for you
You are doing great at 5 months...took me over 10 so KUDOS to you for having the guts to try it. Keep trying...it does get better. I still can't do rice so you really did good.

Always have napkins at the ready....I even used to bring some from home as I never seemed to have enough. It may not be pretty to watch me eat, but friends will understand.

Keep up the good work. Breakfast items were easy for me. You might try that next time.

hwt

Ingrid K said:

good for you
You are doing great at 5 months...took me over 10 so KUDOS to you for having the guts to try it. Keep trying...it does get better. I still can't do rice so you really did good.

Always have napkins at the ready....I even used to bring some from home as I never seemed to have enough. It may not be pretty to watch me eat, but friends will understand.

Keep up the good work. Breakfast items were easy for me. You might try that next time.

Good try!
I, too, find breakfast items easy...eggs and pancakes w/plenty of syrup. Next time try a buffet if you have one near. If you happen to be in a town with a casino, they usually have a fair one. Things like mashed potatoes are touchy, sometimes too pasty and other times just right. Or, I'll mix corn in with them. It's a good way to try lots of things. I do well with pasta dishes. Not so good with ketchup...on a good day, Heinz works. Sometimes I waste allot at the buffets but I have yet to leave one hungry. Look at this next eating phase as an adventure...good luck!

George_Baltimore

hwt said:

Good try!
I, too, find breakfast items easy...eggs and pancakes w/plenty of syrup. Next time try a buffet if you have one near. If you happen to be in a town with a casino, they usually have a fair one. Things like mashed potatoes are touchy, sometimes too pasty and other times just right. Or, I'll mix corn in with them. It's a good way to try lots of things. I do well with pasta dishes. Not so good with ketchup...on a good day, Heinz works. Sometimes I waste allot at the buffets but I have yet to leave one hungry. Look at this next eating phase as an adventure...good luck!

Congrats Swampy
The comment about the soup coming out your nose struck a nerve with me. That's one of my problems now. Have you been checked to see if you have an esophageal stricture from the radiation? That could cause the liquid to shoot out of your nose. A simple dilation could help you in that regard.

luv4lacrosse

DID YOU FIND THE CHINESE BUFFET??
Hey buddy, sounds like you may have found the friendly chinese buffet?? It was one of my first ventures out into the real worl of eating. My problem then is the same as now, I get into too big of a hurry to eat and shovel too much stuff into the newly drastically reduced esophagus and then blow a chinese feast right out of my nostrills.

I never follow my own advice of "taking small bites"

Ease into it and it gets better each time out.

Best

Mike

phrannie51

YEAH for you, BSB!!!
...first trip out was a tad messy for me, too...but it gets better. I swear, oriental food is what most of us go for, first...Congrats on your first trip out.

p

CivilMatt

every thing except the nose part makes me hungry
BSB,

Way to go, 2 months before I did. You learn to pace yourself and to be methodical about each bite. Lastly, don’t forget the beverage, cheers.

Best,

Matt

blackswampboy

thanks all!
...for your wisdom, humor, and insight.

that's it, Mike. with constricted throat due to necrotic tissue...when I try to match the eating speed of others...wham! it comes out the nose. lesson learned.

my brother and me both married Chinese (Republic of China on Taiwan) women, and my kid was born over there.
We have a lot of Chinese food around here.

might have gone public too soon with eating--but it's tough to miss out on all the social events. tired of staying home alone while friends and family are having a fine old time. and even worse would be to sit there and watch everybody else eat, without at least trying. so, we try--even at the risk of embarrassing flying food incidents. ;-)

merry christmas, and happy new year!

katenorwood

Skiffin16 said:

Congrats...
It'll only getter better with time I'm sure.

Happy Holidays,
John

Eating out
BSB,
I love reading your posts. They make me feel better about what I call my bad days...seem a little less bad and puts a smile on my face ! I'm so glad that you're getting out and living life.....we can't let this demon take that away from us ! Thinking of you and the family ! Katie

Ga978

blackswampboy said:

thanks all!
...for your wisdom, humor, and insight.

that's it, Mike. with constricted throat due to necrotic tissue...when I try to match the eating speed of others...wham! it comes out the nose. lesson learned.

my brother and me both married Chinese (Republic of China on Taiwan) women, and my kid was born over there.
We have a lot of Chinese food around here.

might have gone public too soon with eating--but it's tough to miss out on all the social events. tired of staying home alone while friends and family are having a fine old time. and even worse would be to sit there and watch everybody else eat, without at least trying. so, we try--even at the risk of embarrassing flying food incidents. ;-)

merry christmas, and happy new year!

Good idea

Thanks for suggesting Chinese food....I have missed it. I am two months post treatment and beginning to eat. Little bites are definitely the way to go. I try to avoid looking at others eat or i am tempted to match their speed  with bad results. Cream based soups work well but i thin them down with extra half and half.  That helps. I could even eat a few little bites of Christmas dinner ...beef with lots of sauce and broccoli with cheese sauce. Pancakes with lots of butter and syrup and soft boiled eggs are ok too. Sipping coffee with lots of cream helps me too. I am working hard so I can get this tube out.....

How ironic that for the first time in my life when  I don't have to count calories, I don't want to eat!  

sassysrice

Nothing tryed nothing gained

Great for you for taking the risk, asian food always a good start

Sue

Skiffin16

Ga978 said:

Good idea

Thanks for suggesting Chinese food....I have missed it. I am two months post treatment and beginning to eat. Little bites are definitely the way to go. I try to avoid looking at others eat or i am tempted to match their speed  with bad results. Cream based soups work well but i thin them down with extra half and half.  That helps. I could even eat a few little bites of Christmas dinner ...beef with lots of sauce and broccoli with cheese sauce. Pancakes with lots of butter and syrup and soft boiled eggs are ok too. Sipping coffee with lots of cream helps me too. I am working hard so I can get this tube out.....

How ironic that for the first time in my life when  I don't have to count calories, I don't want to eat!  

Buffets..

Myself and many others frequented buffets when starting to test our taste buds again.

They offer a huge variety allowing the sampling of many main dishes and desserts.

Stick with it, my taste took nearly two years to completely return, but was very significant after six months or so.

Best ~ John