An expected bump in the road

Few days after my surgery I went to ER too.Then stayed 6more days in the hospital for bowel obstruction.
I did not eat, I could not sleep, but later I got better.

Thinking of you. Just eat good food when you can.

Editgrl, I am so sorry to hear this!  Out of all this craziness at least it is good to know that this 'bump' is not related to the cancer.  I am not a dietician, and maybe there is one you can talk to for help, but I would think an increase in calories is in order. 

I did talk to one who specializes in helping patients with cancer, the concern then was getting enough protein to keep the blood counts up for treatment, but I will pass along a tip that she told me.  Most protien shakes on the market have soy protien isolates as the main ingredient.  It is highly processed soy, and for anyone trying to avoid highly processed foods it is not a good idea.  Also, she told me it was highly controversial, but I found an article on it when I was sitting in the waiting room for a radiation dose, that the body converts soy to estrogen, and hormone treatments are not always recommended for women with these types of agressive cancers.

I saved the article on my desktop and hope the image below shows:

I am so sorry you went through that.  You are an incredibly strong woman.  I am on a weight gain diet per my doctor as I seem to lose about four pounds per treatment plus what I lost prior to, and after my surgery in July.  I only eat organic foods as much as possible as I have been told that any form of hormones for me are like throwing gas on a fire.  Lots of chicken in our diet, I eat red meat on occasion and plenty of fish.  Potatoes, smoothies (made with low fat vanilla yogurt, coconut water, flash frozen organic berries, splash of oj and banana), I tend to graze.  Or at least try to.  My appetite is an issue these days.  My doctor now has me on an eat whatever sounds good diet - ice cream!  In terms of vegetables they have to be well cooked. Everything g is pasteurized, processed or preserved.  No salads, okay I sneak some, no sushi.  The issue is that my immune system is so compromised right now - they want to control as much as possible any exposure to bacteria through foods.  No soft cheeses.  i am craving a salad like never before but with my transfusion and cell counts it just isn't a great idea.  Once the counts are back on track I am all over that!

My husband just left for the grocery store and asked which kind of ice cream?  I think he is enjoying this more than I am!  Sending hugs and meeping you in my prayers.  Anne

Editgrl said:

Ice cream!

I had really started into making my own ice cream last summer, and it's so yummy, especially knowing that I am using organic fruit and can eliminate any sugar if I want to.  I even made some using almond milk instead of dairy milk.  I eat a lot of chicken, too.  At one time I said I was surprised I didn't have feathers growing under my arms instead of hair.

The no raw vegetables thing could be horrid for me.  I love salads, and baby carrots are my go to snack.  But I will do whatever I have to.  I hadn't thought of using coconut milk in smoothies, but that's a great idea and I have laid in a store for hydrating purposes.

I read Anti-Cancer and realized that most of what he suggested I have already been doing, it's just a matter of re-arranging some of the proportions slightly.  All of the suggestions from everyone here have given me a lot of great information.  It remains to be seen how this diet pans out, but again, I'm just trying to get myself in as good a shape as possible going in.

Here's hoping your appetite picks up, Anne.  And props to your grocery boy to keeping you well-stocked!

Try to bulk up some if you can. I did not anticipate losing ten pounds while going through 6 rounds of chemo, but I did. Being underweight is no way to fight this beast. Frailty is a side effect of cancer so going into Tx frail already is a bad idea. 

Praying that you both feel better and thrive.

Warm Wishes,

Cathy

Diya said:

Protein powder

Dear edit girl,

i am sorry to hear about your unexpected bump! I do hope from here on its a smoother ride to recovery for you. You have the most positive attitude I have ever seen in anyone! Please keep it going as it is so important for recovery. You are an inspiration to everyone else as well.

Regarding protein powder try Raw protein from garden Of life. I got this one for my mum and found it very helpful. It is the most natural without any nasties.

http://www.gardenoflife.com/Products-for-Life/Foundational-Nutrition/RAW-Protein.aspx

 

i would also suggest eating lot of avocados is great for gaining weight and it gives you the healthy fats in the body.

Editgrl said:

Avocados

Yes, there are two avocados on my kitchen table just waiting to be used.  Gonna try them in some smoothies.  I actually made avocado/coconut ice cream earlier this year that was yummy, and fairly healthy (for ice cream.)

My doctors office called and added more red meat, almonds, apples, peanut butter to my eat list to boost iron and fats.  Any other ideas ladies?  I am moderately anemic now, all of my other counts are moving up after last week's transfusion.  Between red meat and ice cream he is becoming my favorite doctor very quickly.  (Although I don't really eat much red meat.)  I am probably looking at an iron transfusion and hoping it won't affect my treatment schedule.

Chris - your ice cream sounds yummy!  Anne

AWK said:

I forgot about avocados! Any ideas for dealing with anemia?

My doctors office called and added more red meat, almonds, apples, peanut butter to my eat list to boost iron and fats.  Any other ideas ladies?  I am moderately anemic now, all of my other counts are moving up after last week's transfusion.  Between red meat and ice cream he is becoming my favorite doctor very quickly.  (Although I don't really eat much red meat.)  I am probably looking at an iron transfusion and hoping it won't affect my treatment schedule.

Chris - your ice cream sounds yummy!  Anne

Anne - Blackstrap Molasses are high in iron and can easily be stirred into most beverages and food. 1 tbsp of Blackstrap Molasses has 3.5mg of Iron which is approx 19% of daily requirement. Cooking foods in an iron skillet actually does increase iron content. See following:

Researchers have found that cooking in an iron skillet greatly increases the iron content of many foods. Acidic foods that have a higher moisture content, such as applesauce and spaghetti sauce, absorb the most iron. For example, one study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Associationfound that the iron content in 100 grams of spaghetti sauce jumped from 0.6 mg to 5.7 mg after being cooked in a cast iron pot. Other factors that boost the iron content of foods include longer cooking time, frequent stirring, and using a newer iron skillet.

AWK said:

I forgot about avocados! Any ideas for dealing with anemia?

My doctors office called and added more red meat, almonds, apples, peanut butter to my eat list to boost iron and fats.  Any other ideas ladies?  I am moderately anemic now, all of my other counts are moving up after last week's transfusion.  Between red meat and ice cream he is becoming my favorite doctor very quickly.  (Although I don't really eat much red meat.)  I am probably looking at an iron transfusion and hoping it won't affect my treatment schedule.

Chris - your ice cream sounds yummy!  Anne

I got a blood transfusion myself, and four months later, I was having blood taken out of me because I found out that I have hemochromatosis (not the common form, but one where a person sometimes gets an iron overload and sometimes is okay).  It's a genetic thing, and I don't have the two genes that cause the normal form of it.  I have one messed up gene of another type.   Anyway, what I learned was that my ferritin (iron) level was at 962 when it shouldn't have been above 150.  In reading up on it, I learned that vitamin C helps the body store iron.  I had been taking large doses of vitamin C every day for about 20 years because I thought that with its being an antioxidant, it would protect me from diseases like cancer.  Wrong!!!  Having hemochromatosis can actually cause some cancers, but I don't know if uterine is one of them or not.  I've never read anything to indicate that it is.  I had to have an MRI back when I had my genetic testing to see if I had an iron overload in my abdominal organs, but none was found.  My uterus had already been removed months before I found I had hemochromatosis, so I don't know if it was built up there or not.

Anyway, you could try adding some vitamin C to your diet to see if that helps.  My oncologist made it sound like my chemo-induced anemia is different from iron-deficiency anemia, though, which I actually had when I was ten years old.  I had been eating nothing but peanut butter sandwiches for 2 weeks when I came down with that.  I was sicker then than I ever was with my cancer.  The lab tech told my doctor that my blood actually was white when they looked at it under the microscope.  I find it ironic (no pun intended) that I had an iron overload in my 60's from hemochromatosis, but my body wasn't storing extra iron when I was 10.  But then I guess I would have had to eat it to be able to store it.