What foods could you manage?

It was good that your dad got out.  Alfredo is what I would have ordered.  I cannot do the red sauce.  Taste will change and change and change some more.  Sometimes something is ok on the first few bites and then yuck.  Just have to encourage him to keep trying.  I didn't have a PEG but probably should have this time.  Cream of Wheat was a mainstay, pudding, custard, smoothies (with protein powder added) and yes Ensure--I don't want to see one anymore!  A Chef to check out is Rebecca Katz.  You can write her name in the search engine.  She has worked with Head, neck cancer patients and has some great recipes, some are on her website.  Good luck and thanks for finding out ahead of time.  I knwo that you said that you are 3 hours from your dad, if you could take off some time during his last weeks of treatment, it would probably help with his primary caregiver.  Don't expect a perky visit, but helping at this time would be appreciated by all.

For me, Ensure nutrition shakes and protein shakes have been vitally important during my treatment.  I just finished radiation last week.  I have lost a lot of weight but avoiding having a feeding tube because of the nutrition supplements.

Nutrition drinks may be a necessary evil.

I reached the point where I was only drinking nutrition supplements -- Boost and Ensure.  Now I am back adding fruit and yogurt smoothies to my diets.  Soon I hope to add soft "real foods."

The challenge your dad will face is the combination of loss of taste, loss of appetite, sore throat and mouth, and increasing fatigue as the treatments progress.

Your doctor can arrange for you meet with a nutritionist and there is also good information on this discussion board and cancer sites about what kinds of foods to eat.

This will be hard, but maintaining nutrition is vitally important to promoting healing, so if nutrition lags behind recovery will take even longer.  Hang in there.

M

TracyLynn72 said:

they gave me a list

that consisted of:

eggs

soups

pudding

smoothies

Ensure

 

I did all of that as long as I could and then got my PEG last week.  Now I pour my nutrition in and drink water (to keep my swallowing going).  Eating and the thick saliva has been the hardest two things for me.  I hope he can continue to get down all that he needs!!

The eggs and pancakes you mentioned were among my staples. Try baked potato with lots of butter and sour cream. I liked the milk chocolate Ensure and continue to have one every morning. I quit a week ago but noticed a change in my energy level so added one a day back to my diet. I did well with milk and for some odd reason, rice krispies. Buffets work out well because you can sample to see what works. Bob Evans mac & cheese (in refigerator section at grocery) worked for me but most other brands too pastey. French fries no salt, steak fries were even easier for me. Tapicoca. What works one day may not work the next. Trial and error...got to keep trying until he finds what works for him. I still find the less expensive grades of ground beef have more fat and are much easier for me to eat. Green beans, corn and asparagus are my easiest vegtables and watermelon my easiest fruit.  Cream soups can add extra calories that are needed. Next to hydration, nutrition is key to healing. 

Cherie,

Your Dad needs to choose his easiest path to nutrition and do it.  I general, his choices from hardest to easiest are:

1.      Regular food

2.      Soft food

3.      Blended food

4.      Nutritional drinks (smoothies, protein drinks, Ensure, Boost etc.)

5.      PEG

If he can find the path to least resistance, this battle is under control and he can be ready for other side effects.

Hydration, nutrition and swallowing,

Matt

As Pat says...

There comes a point where it isn't about taste or saliva..., it's purely one thing...surviving treatment and continuing to live.

Simply put, if you don't take in calories and hydration, you're either hospitalized or you die, or both.

It's not a matter of liking or tolerating anything..

If he's like me, you basically have no taste, or not enough that anything taste like something you recognize.

You take in Ensure Plus, Boost or what ever because it has a lot of calories, and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as trying to squeeze in a little food that doesn't come close to the amount of calories.

I did slide a few sliced peaches in light syrup down with each liquid feeding. This was mainly to keep the throat muscles working. But I could tell between the sweet ones and unsweet ones.

Strawberry Ensure Plus was the only one that I liked, so I could tell enough difference between the flavors.

But again, the main thing is just getting the calories and hydration in...., no matter what the taste.

You have to maintain enough energy for recovery and for your body to help in the fight.

Chemo and rads are poisons basically..., if the cancer doesn't kill you treatment comes close... But that's the way I see it... To kill the cancer, they have to nearly kill you in the process.

I'm sorry but there is no easy way around it...

The PEG may make it easier, but you still have to use the throat muscles occasionally, and you still have to get enough calories and hydration in you.

Best,

John

You end up becoming a scientist and you have to keep experimenting. I bought one of those blending machines on TV I forget the guys name who is on the advertisement. He use to do a talk show where people would come on and tell their secrets. Anyway I use to bland up fresh vegies and it would even heat it while blanding. Ensure for protein. One of my favorites was milk toast. I use to toast a piece of bread butter and pepper and pour warm milk over it. Apple sauce was also an ace in the hole.

Make sure he doesn't force the things that were favorites and now he dislikes. They told me chances are you will never get you taste back for that item. Being a former truck driver I drank alot of coffee but lost my taste for it a week or so into radiation. It  got the the point I couldn't even make it for my wife because I would get the dry heaves just smelling it brew. I did begin to try it 4 months out of radiation and now I am good with it. March was three years and I am still getting my taste back for some things.

Fathers day was great, one of my daughters gave me an ice cream maker. It makes a gallon at a time which meams I will have to make two batches so others can have some.

Enjoy the  day

      Jeff

CherieLW said:

Thanks everyone for your

Thanks everyone for your inputs.  I've been sick as heck the past few days so have been m.i.a. I'm going to relate suggestions back to dad.  

hey cherie,

ron had a bad week on week one of treatments but this week has been better, still gets nausea but not as fatigued and is eating better.

His onc decided to have him get hydration IVs 3 days this week and today was the first 3 hour one. He is tired but eating. Nothing like last week.

The nutritionist gave us a bunch of coupons for ensure, which I have in stock pile.

8 rads down, 31 to go

2 chemos down 7 more to go.

Good luck,

janet

I think this must be the most commonly asked question - at my worst moments during treatment ensure was my best friend. College inn broth with pastina and an egg dropped in went down pretty easy- double dippd French toast nice and soggy was nice- instant oatmeal cinnimin and brown sugar was a treat. omelettes with American cheese went down well. Make sure you look into the magic mouth wash a you will need that sooner or later so you will be able to swallow. 

CherieLW said:

P.S. that makes dad's chemo

P.S. that makes dad's chemo treatments about 6 hr long.  Did anyone else experience longer periods of time for chemo or is this pretty typical considering all the fluids and nausea meds as well?

 

hours...give or take.....8:30 to 4:30.....but that included getting unhooked in order to go over to radiation and getting that done....coming back and getting rehooked up, to finish the infusion.  It also makes a difference on how many people are getting chemo during the day.....the more there are, the longer it takes (that's what it seemed like to me, anyway).

p