Been a while

CrimsonRacing

Haven’t visited for a while but need some suggestions.

I can’t seem to gain weight….due to my head and neck radiation my esophagus is about the size of a drinking straw.

Im at about 155 and just can’t seem to increase my weight.

I’ve had a total of 13 EGD procedures with basically no improvement

I have difficulty swallowing solids but need an alternative that doesn’t involve purée food.

any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.

Logan51

68 Gys of Rads to the bottom half of my throat did a long term collateral number on my esophagus, too. Been Feeding Tube-dependent since 8/2019, and that might be down the road for you. The Jevity-Boost VHC diet is not so bad...unless you think about bar-b-que ribs or chicken, ice cream, frosted rolls, cookies, pie...

Would advise, strongly, that you monitor the product of your deep bronchial coughs. If it doesn't go down the esophagus, then it will go down the windpipe. Drs. told me the windpipe gets desensitized after a while, so the natural result of coughing stuff out of the windpipe gets nixed. This is a bad thing, because food stuffs getting in the lungs leads to aspiration-caused pneumonia.

LuvnTN

My issue is not quite the same as yours; however, I did have to figure out how to put on healthy weight by boosting my caloric intake. If there is any way you can blend in a whole avocado and a good amount of olive oil into your daily diet, that provides lots of good-quality calories that help to put on weight. I would add 1/3 of a cup of olive oil and one whole avocado to my keto-friendly-meal-replacement powder and fruit smoothies (one per day) to get my calorie intake up. One medium-sized avocado has approx 250 calories... and 1/3 cup of olive oil has approx 650 calories. So, you can get almost 1,000 calories just by doing that alone (plus the calories from the fruit and shake powder) - without consuming any sugar. The calorie intake can get up there around 1,300 per smoothie.

What this did for me was made me feel full for most of the day.. and decreased the daily concern around eating more to add weight. This allowed me to enjoy smaller quantities of different foods that I wanted to experiment with and try to consume. I would drink this fortified smoothie along with a big meal of 6 scrambled eggs in the morning. Very health, very filling... and I was left with the rest of the day to experiment with eating small portions of different solid foods to find out what worked and didn't. I still eat a lot of stews and soups... only, I fortify everything with a lot of healthy fats (grass-fed butter, olive oil, etc. - keto-friendly) to add calories to everything. I also learned to make a mean chopped salad with steamed and chopped veggies... and a darn-good chili. Even at that, I am still the slowest eater in any crowd... it is what it is.

Don't know if that helps... hopefully there is something in there for you to try (if you aren't doing it already).

CrimsonRacing

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1700622#Comment_1700622

I drink about 12-15 shakes a day consisting of:

boost

milk

choc syrup

instant breakfast

bananas

can eat scrambled eggs,medium well sausage but salad is very difficult for me due to my esophagus being so small

i do ice cream,chocolates,baked or broiled fish but still can’t get my weight up

do you custom make your smoothies or purchase them in packet form

i truly need to gain 25lbs

LuvnTN

Yes, salads are made rough for me as well because I followed the recommendations of the oral surgeon... and had all 8 of my molars removed prior to radiation treatment starting (to reduce chances of experiencing osteoradionecrosis (ORN) later down the road due to dental issues that showed up in my x-rays). Try eating lettuce and veggies without any molars... it is no fun. The radiation to both sides of the jaw socket/muscles also makes any extra chewing a little painful and sore. That is why I specialize in "chopped" salads. Chopped either means I shred the lettuce, shred and wilt the cabbage, shred the cheese (lots of cheese), and chop small or shred all veggies (steamed or softened in microwave) and meat that I add to it. I use a food processor with a shredding wheel attachment to take care of most of the "chopping". One of the benefits of making a salad is you can smother it in a real fatty dressing (which I also make in a blender).. which is never a bad thing. I make my own smoothies using low-carb, meal-replacement powders from Amazon (Garden of Life or Orgain), keto chocolate/granola and frozen fruit from Costco (they have a great variety of options). You can also learn to roast broccoli and cauliflower in the oven until soft and cooked, chop it up.. and add cheese and butter for calories... mmmm, it is really good. The problem with the boost, chocolate syrup, and instant breakfast is all of the sugar that is added to it for the carbs. All of that sugar can lead to other issues later down the road (insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, etc.). Although it is more expensive, healthy fats are the best option for getting calories. Don't get me wrong... I go for a big ice-cream / milk shake binge session one or two times a week (it is my vice of choice). The smoothies alone don't do it without adding all of the fats to it. I add extra fats to everything I eat.. whether it is butter, lard, olive oil, duck fat... any healthy fats I can get. I am 6'0", and was around 190 when diagnosed. I bulked up to 195 for treatment.. and got down to 164 at my lowest (which was after the feeding tube was removed from my nostril two weeks post surgery). With the shakes, I was able to get back to 180-185.. however, If I missed any feeding, I went right down to the 170's that next morning. Even with solid foods, I still add extra fats to everything. I do think if you can find some solids that you can manage, with lots of added fats, you should get filled up faster.. and start seeing LBs.

LuvnTN

Oh yeah... I almost forgot that I also enjoy a couple of heavy, dark beers a couple of nights a week (Guiness and other stouts). A big ice cream sundae and two stout beers for dinner? oh yeah.. bring it on.