I really miss pizza

Post Treatment
Brian, you and I are both 7 weeks post treatment but you had more than I did. I just had 33 rads. Did your rads and chemo go concurrently? I am sitting here slowly eating a bowl of cream of chicken soup. I still have to take Mary's Magic about 10 minutes before hand but I am thankful that my taste seems to be back. I've not tried pizza yet but everytime I go somewhere in my very small town (everybody seems to know) I tell them that when I am able that I'm bringing in a pizza for lunch. I miss it as well. Did your throat get real raw? My dentist told me earlier this week that I had what looked like a canker sore at the base of my tongue the size of a quarter. I think once that thing heals that I'll be good to go for the pizza. I had my first PB&J today but had to keep drinking milk so it would go down. The dry mouth is bothersome isn't it? Especially at night.

Take care!

Should Have Kept Notes
Wish I could recall when I enjoyed pizza first (after treatment). At 2.5 months, it burned too much, and the crust was just too hard to manage. I could eat some of it, but it was not worth the bother and sting. It wasn't very much longer until I began to enjoy it. For me, it worked best when I avoided spicy meats, extra cheese and thick crust. For whatever reason, since treatment, I LOVE onions, so for quite some time, I'd order pizza with thin crust, well done with chicken, extra onions and sometimes peppers and pineapple (had to work my way up to the peppers - still can't eat hot peppers). Sometimes I could eat the chicken, sometimes I couldn't. But well done thin crust was the easiest for me to eat. Funny - I had Newman's Thin crust frozen pizza for dinner last night. It would have been perfect for me when I first was able to eat pizza again (but the sauce is a little spicy). Catsup and pizza were two of the foods I really looked forward to eating again - oh, and Chipotle burrito bols (a couple months after rads, the chicken made me cry, but I could eat beans and rice). My goal food was steak and horseradish - I let the group know when I reached that milestone. You'll get there.

Jimbo55 said:

mmm Pizza
Yes Pizza. The 1st pizza I tried about 4 weeks post treatment smelled so good and tasted so bad. One bite and I had to spit it out. However that seems long ago now and a fading memory. One year out and I can eat thin crust, pan, whatever...its all good. Cheers.

Jimbo

pizza
No pizza yet at 18 months out..not sure what the problem is, even small bites seem to get stuck, will keep trying..funny too, I like onions more now as well, maybe the high moisture content?? Keep trying and sometimes what didn't work the week before suddenly is fab!
Stacey

FOODS I CAN EAT
I am 9 months post treatment, and have seen my ability to eat different types of food really improve over the last 1 1/2 months. I ate my first bite of pizza at about the 6 month mark, but depending on the type of pizza, will depend on how much I can eat. I find deep dish is the easisest for me because of all of the sauce. i still cannot really tollerate pepperoni on my pizza as it is too spicey. I can eat chicken wings as long as the sauce is VERY MILD and or a teriaki or sweet sauce.

To this day, I cannot really eat a hamburger unless it is covered with sauce and had tomatoes and onins on it. (helps with the lubrication) Even just the meat patty itself is still very hard for me to swallow. I can even eat a hard shell taco and a burrito, but struggle with a chicken breast.

I found that before I try something new, I tell myself to keep an open mind, and if it does not work, resort to a plan B. I follow this and eating is finally starting to become enjoyable, and not a chore to survive.

Mike

Skiffin16 said:

Wings First, Pizza later
If you are like me, the wings will come first, then pizza later..... I actually just had two pieces....

As for cheeseburgers...MMMM, Burger King Double Cheeseburgers was one of the first things that I ate that actually tasted awesome.....then it was the jalapeno and cheddar stuffed....

Popeyes...mmm love that too, if I remember correctly, that was one of HONDO's first break through foods also.

Hang in there Brian, more than likely you will get there. Just unfortunatley it takes time, and good things are always worth waiting for.

Best,
John

POPEYES!!!
When i was at training for my McDs job years ago, I would have to go to Norristown and we would have to eat out for lunch every day. One of the trips I took I ate Popeye's every day because I loved it so much and I don't have one near me. Gah! I miss that chicken!!! I will never be able to do that chicken cause of the spice. I was able to add fried chicken thighs back into my diet, so that is good! It's strange because it isn't the breading that is hard for me to swallow, it is the chicken. It takes two hours for me to eat it, and I choke a fair bit, but it's doable.

soccerfreaks said:

You never know
Sweet, it has taken more than five years, but I had an entire slice of pizza the other night: thin crust, slightly over-cooked veggie pizza...and yeah, i know, not exactly our concept of pizza, but it's a start.

Keep on keeping on.

Take care,

Joe

Well...
I have done my own 'pizza' on a flat bread kinda thing, with ricotta, and caramelized onions and veggies. I can choke that down, but I would love it if there came a day when I could manage a slice of real pizzeria regular cheese pizza and it didn't burn like heck and be almost impossible to swallow. Until then I will 'enjoy' what I can manage, and will keep on keepin on.

Hi Brian
My Wife makes Pizza every Friday night it is a kind of get together for the family. It took me a little over a year before I could start to eat it after treatment ended. That seems like a long time but it will go fast and you will be enjoying it again very sooooooon.

Hondo

DrMary said:

Pizza Wrap?
Doug was able to get through pizza (thin crust and not the edge) on his first try (he was very determined) - but I'd once planned to try putting mild sauce, mozzarella and sauteed onions on a flour tortilla, folding it over, and baking or pan frying that, just so he could have a pizza-like taste - he surprised me by trying out "regular" pizza first, so I can't say how it would have worked.

The bread issue is tough - water is not an adequate replacement for saliva when it comes to eating bread, I think.

Pizza!
I cannot handle pepperoni or tomato sauce but love the Hawaiian. Soft crust work's for me also. I remember how great the smell was right after treatment but my first bite was a let down. I think I was about 8 month's post treatment also.