Texture of foods

Greend said:

Takes time
You are only 13 weeks out...hell you are probably still cooking... :>)

Don't rush it but don't expect it to be like before, you have a new normal to get used to. It will get to the point where you will eat and take a sip of water but with dry mouth this situation will last as long as the "dry mouth". I see some on here who regain some saliva and ability to eat "normally" but I have been 15 years sipping and eating.

Be patient.

You ARE eating
I hate Ensure, but it is food (I shudder when I write that) so you are eating. Early food needs to be soft and slippery - many folks find that they need to "foobricate" with gravy or cheese sauce.

Don't forget things like pudding - Boost makes one that also has vitamins and is not that bad. Pureed fruit is good also. And cream of whatever soup. Food does not have to be "solid" to be nourishing.

trixiedixie said:

I'll stop rushing myself
Thanks for your comments everyone.
Greend, you made me laugh with that still cooking comment! I guess I am! I'll just put the brakes on and stop worrying. My nutritionist was actually encouraging me to try to start eating more soft solid foods a month ago which got my husband all fired up to encourage me so that's where that all came from. Getting the information from you guys and gals makes way more sense to me in my own head. I'm actually relieved to know that it's too early to expect much. Fortunately, believe it or not, I actually like Ensure! Now if only I could stop dreaming about being able to eat!

Soft Solids
The attraction of soft solids is that, for some, they can be easier to swallow than liquids (which some folks aspirate) - this is why they made that ThickenUp stuff to make even water behave like soft Jello. They also present a different exercise to your mouth and throat from what you have to do to swallow liquids.

However, there's no real nutritional reason to rush it, so you should not frustrate yourself by pushing too hard (as long as you're getting plenty of fiber, of course). It sounds like you are close to the "spoon of this or that" stage, where you can try a spoonful of something soft once a day or so - this can be very frustrating to the caregiver who has to prepare all that food that ends up not being eaten, but it sounds like your husband has a bit too much energy anyway. I was lucky - my 13-year-old boy (known as that scientific wonder - the bottomless pit) was willing to eat just about anything my husband left.

Kent Cass said:

First
food for me was pancakes, smothered in butter and syrup, along with generous sips of water. I was imbibing in such after some 8 weeks, but the bulk of my diet was still the Ensure. Play it as it lays, so to speak. Does take time, but you'll gradually get back to eating what you did before.

kcass

For 13 weeks out, you are doing awesome.
I could take nothing at 13 weeks out, so your doing great.

Don't rush it with the solids. Honestly, take it easy on yourself and your mouth, and it will heal faster. I would stick with soft foods. Or even use a mini chopper or food processor to make your food chopped fine. Remember that lack of saliva, not only impedes swallowing, but also food breakdown. Digestion starts in the mouth with the enzymes in the saliva, it's hard to breakdown the food in your mouth just by chewing alone, and if your mouth and tongue are still sore, that's even worse.

When I finally started to eat again, I would use the chopper to mince all my veggies before cooking. This helped me immeasurably! It made all the difference in the world.

I am also the queen of smoothies. I usually make a smoothie every morning of two fruits and one veg to drink with brunch. I use a high speed blender / emulsifier. (something like a HealthMaster or vitamix works best). Something like an apple, romaine, and an orange, blended with some almond milk. Or a banana, an orange, and a carrot, blended with Greek yogurt. Or I sometimes would rather juice. Today I had an apple, a whole cucumber, and a carrot. Super easy to get excellent nutrition down the hatch.

Greend is right.
You're doing great, wow, good for you! Give it time, don't force foods that hurt or sting.

At surgery my husband lost his entire R salivary system as well as his R facial nerve so we have some permanent eating challenges. But he's doing well, three months out of very tough chemo/rad he's eating small amounts every day supplemented by real food in the PEG. We use a Champion juicer and a VitaMix blender every day, I learned on this very board that VitaMix allows a 25% discount for documented cancer patients, it's a beautiful machine. He does better with whole foods/fresh juices blended into a drinkable or tube-able consistency than the formulas with corn maltodextrin and corn syrup. But as others have said, the onco nutritionists often recommend the Ensure/BoostPlus exclusively so they must have found success with it.

If you want to try something different than Ensure but nearly as convenient, there's an excellent product called The Ultimate Meal (best prices on Amazon we have found) you might want to check out.

trixiedixie said:

Mmmmmm. Pancakes sound good! Thanks so much everyone for your input. This group is amazing! I know I have to accept whatever my new normal will be and that it may be different than my old normal. It's just helpful to know that things take time and possibly a lot of time. My husband's cool. He just wants me to be better and doesn't realize the extent to which we get fried and how slow the healing process is. I look good on the outside, it's the inside that's the last to heal. Just being rid of that awful morphine has made a huge difference in my energy level and outlook on daily living. If all I have to worry about is eating food again, I'm going to consider myself one of the lucky ones because aside from that, I do feel pretty good. I feel so grateful to have this board to help me out. Thank you again, everyone.

Hi Dixie
So happy to hear you are doing so well after treatment, the body is an amazing machine that God made to heal its self when sick. Keep positive and keep believing and you will keep well.

Wishing you all the best
Hondo

You are doing great. Jim is
You are doing great. Jim is not out of treatment yet, 8 more rads and 2 more erbatox, but I am already drilling into his brain that he will not be able to eat normally the next week after treatment. I tell him what is said on the boards and repeat over and over, "everyone is different."

Be patient, be strong and be happy.

Debbie