Nick released 9/15 - trying to find post-op food balance - Suggestions here
We've been home about 18 hours and are struggling a bit trying to find a good balance for his "new" stomach. I've seen several post what they are eating now - months after surgery - but how/what did you eat in the days immediately following surgery? Is it common to overeat these first days and experience that awful cramping?
Suggestions appreciated.
Terry
Wife to Nick
dx T3N2M0, May 19, 2011
THE Sept 8, 2011
Comments
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Eating post surgery takes some adjustment
Terry,
Yes, unfortunately, it is common to have some abdominal issues when learning to eat post surgery. I think it is a combination of not using our digestive system for the period of time when we are in the hospital and learning to eat in a different way.
My post surgery experience was that I could only eat a small amount at each "meal" for the first few weeks. My rule of thumb was no portions larger than the palm of my hand at first. I need to learn to eat very slowly and chew all my food very thoroughly.
I will include some references to web sites that contain helpful information. You may have already gotten these from the nutritionist at the hospital where you had your surgery but just in case.
A diet guide for people who have had an esophagectomy:
http://www.upmc.com/healthatoz/patienteducation/g/pages/dietafteranesophagectomy.aspx
A diet guide to avoid “dumping syndrome”
http://www.upmc.com/healthatoz/patienteducation/n/pages/dumpingsyndromediet.aspx
A high protient / High calorie diet for recovering cancer survivors
http://www.rush.edu/rumc/page-P07231.html
These are some “rules of eating” that helped me when I was recovering.
1. Avoid foods that have high concentrations or sugar or simple carbohydrates
2. Eat seven to eight small meals a day
3. Eat slowly and chew all food very thoroughly
4. Rest for approximately 30 minutes after eating (in an upright position)
5. Drink minimal liquid during meals ( drink liquids approximately an hour after eating)
6. High calorie supplement drinks (like Ensure) must be sipped slowly over a long period of time.
I have found that food supplements like BeneCalorie can be mixed in many foods and add calories without the “over full” feeling.
http://www.nestlenutritionstore.com/general-itemdetail.asp?T1=BENECAL+24CU&SRCCODE=PDSS10&gclid=COms4YjTgasCFY8DQAod3Drh1Q
I hope these suggestions are helpful. It does take time for your body to adjust to the changes from surgery.
I know it is frustrating for Nick right now because he wants to feel better and get back to life as usual. He has to be patient and listen to his body and things will improve in a couple of months.
Best Regards,
Paul Adams
McCormick, South Carolina
DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
3/14/2011 CT Scan NED
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!0 -
OHH YES!! Each person has
OHH YES!! Each person has different responses. We've had our share of cramping experiences. They can be very painful. Paul gives wonderful advice.
We've found separate Liquid from solids, I.e., don't drink with your meals or shortly before or after. Avoid things that clump and are heavy such as mashed potatoes, rolls and breads. My husband does much better with protein foods rather than carbohydrates. Eat slowly, small amounts, and frequently. Something my husband still has trouble following. He had an enormous appetite pre-surgery and still gets carried away. Food finally begins to taste great!
It is helpful to sit in a comfortable chair and relax for about 30 minutes after eating. Maalox tablets oftentimes are soothing and is what we use most of the time. I keep bottles in the bedroom, in both cars and at his office. I actually have a little "travel kit" that I keep medicines in such as Maalox and Tylenol and assorted allergy or whatever medicines. Keep one in each car.
My husband would say if I could only throw up. Awful sounding wrenching/burping. One time we tried alka-seltzer. Bad move. Awful experience. It's not the alka-seltzer's fault. His new stomach could not take the expansion caused by the fizz. Took his mind off his initial problem as the alka-seltzer introduced a whole new experience.
Don't despair. It may be a little bumpy for a while but it does get better. The fact your husband was dismissed so quickly, a good thing, may mean his new stomach is a little more sensitive. If he thinks he wants to eat something, let him try. I wasted a lot of food. I've used Stouffers frozen entrees (something I would Never do in the past). They don't use preservatives or the like, taste pretty good, and are portion controlled. I stay away from those that have heavy sauces. Also, they don't seem to have as much sodium. I'm sure other brands are equally as good; I just found these and they have been helpful.
I found his meals to be trial and error and change course. Interestingly, he has always been able to eat steak, particularly tenderloin. Try some things and let us know how it's going. Hang in therese it will get better.0 -
Thought we could compare notes!
Hey Terry
I too am concerned about Jeff and his food intake. Thought maybe those in the junior class (are we seniors yet?) could compare notes:
YESTERDAY
Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg, 1 waffle w/peanutbutter, 6oz applejuice
Snack1: 1 glucerna (total failure, took 2 sips and went back to bed)
Lunch: 1/2 cup macaroni and cheese, applesauce
Snack2: 1 greek yogurt, applejuice
Dinner: 1 ground turkey taco (no shell) with 2 slices avacado, little bit of cheese, and sourcream, side of pureed black beans
Snack 3: 1 yogurt smoothie drink, 1 fruit cup
TODAY
Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg, 1 pancake with butter and syrup, 1/2 glass femki
Snack 1: yogurt smoothie drink, fruit cup
Lunch: 1/2 cup tuna with mayo and 4 saltines, applesauce
Plan for snack 2: avacado pudding and watermelon
Plan for dinner: corn chowder and spaghetti squash w/butter
Plan for snack: toast with peanut butter and jelly, 1 green tea
I have made an effort to use as many organic ingredients as possible, anything to keep this cancer out of our lives!! I have taken a leave from work so all of my effort is being put into getting Jeff better, and cleaning my house to keep the nervous energy to a minimum. I think I am getting enough food in, but I am not sure. Not using supplements or the feeding tube is making this tricky!
Niki0 -
Nice job!NikiMo said:Thought we could compare notes!
Hey Terry
I too am concerned about Jeff and his food intake. Thought maybe those in the junior class (are we seniors yet?) could compare notes:
YESTERDAY
Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg, 1 waffle w/peanutbutter, 6oz applejuice
Snack1: 1 glucerna (total failure, took 2 sips and went back to bed)
Lunch: 1/2 cup macaroni and cheese, applesauce
Snack2: 1 greek yogurt, applejuice
Dinner: 1 ground turkey taco (no shell) with 2 slices avacado, little bit of cheese, and sourcream, side of pureed black beans
Snack 3: 1 yogurt smoothie drink, 1 fruit cup
TODAY
Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg, 1 pancake with butter and syrup, 1/2 glass femki
Snack 1: yogurt smoothie drink, fruit cup
Lunch: 1/2 cup tuna with mayo and 4 saltines, applesauce
Plan for snack 2: avacado pudding and watermelon
Plan for dinner: corn chowder and spaghetti squash w/butter
Plan for snack: toast with peanut butter and jelly, 1 green tea
I have made an effort to use as many organic ingredients as possible, anything to keep this cancer out of our lives!! I have taken a leave from work so all of my effort is being put into getting Jeff better, and cleaning my house to keep the nervous energy to a minimum. I think I am getting enough food in, but I am not sure. Not using supplements or the feeding tube is making this tricky!
Niki
I'm allowing Nick to plan his meals. Perhaps that's a mistake.....
Yesterday was breakfast at the hospital, so that was healthy at least.
Lunch: baked potato with sour cream & cheese, juice
Snack: fudgcicle
Dinner: chicken noodle soup
Snack: pop tart
TODAY
Late Breakfast/Early Lunch: 2 egg ham & cheese omelet, 1/3 pancake w/butter & syrup, coffee
Snack: grape popcicle, apple/cinnamon tea
Snack: milk & cookies
Dinner: Macaroni & Cheese with ground beef, more tea
Sounds like Jeff is being more tolerant than Nick
He wants to "do for himself". We'll find a happy medium soon, I'm sure. 0 -
I think he is doing good!TerryV said:Nice job!
I'm allowing Nick to plan his meals. Perhaps that's a mistake.....
Yesterday was breakfast at the hospital, so that was healthy at least.
Lunch: baked potato with sour cream & cheese, juice
Snack: fudgcicle
Dinner: chicken noodle soup
Snack: pop tart
TODAY
Late Breakfast/Early Lunch: 2 egg ham & cheese omelet, 1/3 pancake w/butter & syrup, coffee
Snack: grape popcicle, apple/cinnamon tea
Snack: milk & cookies
Dinner: Macaroni & Cheese with ground beef, more tea
Sounds like Jeff is being more tolerant than Nick He wants to "do for himself". We'll find a happy medium soon, I'm sure.
Sounds like Nick must be getting up and about more easily than Jeff. I wish Jeff wanted to do more for himself, he is more than happy to have me prepare all of his meals for him. I am ok with it for now, give him a little babying, but come next week I am going to start backing off. I need to go back to work at some point, he will have to become self reliant.
I like the idea of the baked potato, hadn't thought of that one. I would suggest you looking into femki, it is like a milk but made of yogurt you can add fruits to it and blend it up. I know that Nick is a bit of a hippy at heart, it was suggested to us by Jeff's bit of a hippy brother
Tell Nick he is doing great!!
Niki0 -
WowNikiMo said:I think he is doing good!
Sounds like Nick must be getting up and about more easily than Jeff. I wish Jeff wanted to do more for himself, he is more than happy to have me prepare all of his meals for him. I am ok with it for now, give him a little babying, but come next week I am going to start backing off. I need to go back to work at some point, he will have to become self reliant.
I like the idea of the baked potato, hadn't thought of that one. I would suggest you looking into femki, it is like a milk but made of yogurt you can add fruits to it and blend it up. I know that Nick is a bit of a hippy at heart, it was suggested to us by Jeff's bit of a hippy brother
Tell Nick he is doing great!!
Niki
Terry and Niki-
You guys are amazing and way ahead of us. Luis' surgeon is being extremely conservative and cautious - Luis is still on liquids only. We are hoping that will change at his checkup on Monday. The surgeon said something about the latest research saying it's better to wait before eating fully. I'm not sure what the reasoning is.
I am definitely going to be taking tips from you!
Laura0 -
hmmm...hoping I'm not overdoing it..Laura23 said:Wow
Terry and Niki-
You guys are amazing and way ahead of us. Luis' surgeon is being extremely conservative and cautious - Luis is still on liquids only. We are hoping that will change at his checkup on Monday. The surgeon said something about the latest research saying it's better to wait before eating fully. I'm not sure what the reasoning is.
I am definitely going to be taking tips from you!
Laura
Geez, this is tough huh? We didn't have any of these eating issues before, he didn't even have the feeding tube. I can tell that he wants that thing out asap, and I am pretty sure he thinks he needs to prove to the surgeon that he doesn't need it. So he is being pretty good about eating, although he is going for yogurt type things a lot, must sit easier. He hasn't had any dumping issues yet, but we have been eating super healthy, nothing processed. We had made a conscience effort to eat more organic unprocessed foods about 7 months before diagnosis. Once the cancer hit we just ate whatever he wanted, anything that would be appetizing. We are both happy that we are able to go back to healthier foods now. Hoping chemo won't derail us again.
Good luck with the checkup on Monday, hoping he can move to a soft foods diet, I can't even imagine trying to do this with liquids only. Same suggestion to you as to Terry, check out Kefir, you can get it at Trader Joes, very easy for making smoothies and you can use it in cereal to add a little healthy kick!
I say we all keep posting food suggestions, as I am going to run out of ideas over here. I know mac and cheese doesn't sit that well, but everything else went down ok.
Niki0 -
Quick constipation tipNikiMo said:hmmm...hoping I'm not overdoing it..
Geez, this is tough huh? We didn't have any of these eating issues before, he didn't even have the feeding tube. I can tell that he wants that thing out asap, and I am pretty sure he thinks he needs to prove to the surgeon that he doesn't need it. So he is being pretty good about eating, although he is going for yogurt type things a lot, must sit easier. He hasn't had any dumping issues yet, but we have been eating super healthy, nothing processed. We had made a conscience effort to eat more organic unprocessed foods about 7 months before diagnosis. Once the cancer hit we just ate whatever he wanted, anything that would be appetizing. We are both happy that we are able to go back to healthier foods now. Hoping chemo won't derail us again.
Good luck with the checkup on Monday, hoping he can move to a soft foods diet, I can't even imagine trying to do this with liquids only. Same suggestion to you as to Terry, check out Kefir, you can get it at Trader Joes, very easy for making smoothies and you can use it in cereal to add a little healthy kick!
I say we all keep posting food suggestions, as I am going to run out of ideas over here. I know mac and cheese doesn't sit that well, but everything else went down ok.
Niki
Nick has found that food won't remain in his stomach if he's constipated. He's still hungry and just tried a bit of leftovers. They went nowhere, so they came back up. Seems like MOM (Milk of Magnesia) is our best friend tonight.
Terry
@Laura - I don't envy Luis the full liquids, but the transition of moving to foods is a whole new challenge. We will all make it through this new phase. I just didn't realize that I would have as many new things to learn as well. 0 -
TERRY AND NICK!! GREAT NEWS!!!
Terry and Nick,
That is SUCH great news to read!!!
Way to go! We are all so proud of him!
I wish you ALL the best and I hope eating becomes routine for him soon and all this balances out soon!
Sorry I can't help with the suggestions but I am praying for both of you daily and sending all of our love!
-Eric0 -
SennokotTerryV said:Quick constipation tip
Nick has found that food won't remain in his stomach if he's constipated. He's still hungry and just tried a bit of leftovers. They went nowhere, so they came back up. Seems like MOM (Milk of Magnesia) is our best friend tonight.
Terry
@Laura - I don't envy Luis the full liquids, but the transition of moving to foods is a whole new challenge. We will all make it through this new phase. I just didn't realize that I would have as many new things to learn as well.
Hey Terry,
We are using two sennokot tablets every morning because of the narcotics. We used them during chemo too because of the nausea meds. It has been working well for us so far.
Niki0 -
Slow cooker is our friend
We're finding that the slow cooker and its warm setting is perfect for Nick's "come & go" eating habits. He can take what he wants, when he wants and not worry about overeating in a single setting. Still finding that balance is a bit challenging though. He doesn't realize (or want to realize) that he's full when food takes so good.
Tonight we made Aztec Chicken in the cooker - cook 4 hours on low
1 cup red onion - on bottom of cooker
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast - layered on next
Top with the following directly into cooker:
2 tsp chili power
2 cloves of garlic (we used 2 tsps)
1 jalepeno pepper (optional)
15 oz black beans - rinsed & drained (great extra fiber!)
15 oz diced tomatoes - do not drain
Add cilantro just before serving
great over rice or in tortillas
We added cheese to kick it up a notch. Nice with sour cream also.0
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