When could you eat solid food again?

kmadlom
kmadlom Member Posts: 20
edited May 2018 in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Greetings all,

I know this has been touched on in a few other threads, but I really wanted to hear some information focused on when solid food could be consumed again.

Wife is almost three weeks from last treatment of 29 rads and 6 chemos. She's been consuming liquid only since early in the treatment. She's living off meal replacement shakes, but even those have to be thinned with some water for her to get them down. She can't drink anything thick like a smoothie and she's avoiding dairy because of phlegm. Never had a PEG tube. Lost about 20 to 25 pounds since all this started with BOT surgery mid-February. Doctors seem okay with that.

Our question is: How long before you were able to eat solid food again, any solid food at all? Also, what worked at first? We're thinking maybe a scrambled egg will be the first thing she can swallow, but definitely not yet.

We would appreciate any timelines, personal experiences of reintroducing real food. We know that even after she can have a scrambled egg we'll still be a long way from a bite of steak or anything like that.

Some people say they can never eat bread or crackers or chips or anything like that ever again. 

Tell us your experiences, please.

Thanks so much.

Everything else is going pretty well. Her energy is coming back, her skin has healed. Her voice is not back to normal, but that's because of the inflammation in her throat. She started a steroid pack yesterday to try to reduce that. She's no longer taking any pain meds. She's starting doing some exercise, nothing too strenuous, but consistent.

K

Comments

  • debbiel0
    debbiel0 Member Posts: 134 Member
    #2
     

    Glad to hear things are going well!  

    I started with jello ,apple sauce and Cream of Wheat cereal.  I gradually challenged myself with mashed potatoes with lots of butter and gravy. My next adventure was adding  baked beans and bananas to the menu. By about the three month mark   New England Clam Chowder was my go to meal. Then lots of grilled veg, peppers, zucchini, squash.  I have a dairy and egg allergy, so omelettes and creamy foods do not work for me.   I found smoothiesrecipes.com has a lot of non-dairy recipes that helped me. Most are ‘diet’ geared but I added hemp hearts, ground flax or chia seeds to up the calorie count.  A cookbook Goes Down Easy by Elise Mecklinger is specific to the challenges of eating during cancer treatment and may be worth a look. I found it helpful.

     It really is just a matter of not being afraid to try everything and anything to see if you can make it work.  I still try a bite of everything the family is having for dinner. Having a large glass of water nearby is helpful.  

     I started off a little slower than what seems to be normal, but I am happy with how far I have come. I was 7 weeks after my last treatment before I was given the ok to take anything by mouth, even water.  So I am not an ‘early success’ story. I am now 9 months post treatment and still experimenting with different foods, some I have never had before and with my new taste, some I never liked before are ok now.. Spice is still a no go, and I am still dreaming of a steak, but I am confident that it will eventually be on the menu!   

    Keep trying, keep experimenting, you never know what might work.

    Deb

  • donfoo
    donfoo Member Posts: 1,773 Member
    #3
    debbiel0 said:

     

    Glad to hear things are going well!  

    I started with jello ,apple sauce and Cream of Wheat cereal.  I gradually challenged myself with mashed potatoes with lots of butter and gravy. My next adventure was adding  baked beans and bananas to the menu. By about the three month mark   New England Clam Chowder was my go to meal. Then lots of grilled veg, peppers, zucchini, squash.  I have a dairy and egg allergy, so omelettes and creamy foods do not work for me.   I found smoothiesrecipes.com has a lot of non-dairy recipes that helped me. Most are ‘diet’ geared but I added hemp hearts, ground flax or chia seeds to up the calorie count.  A cookbook Goes Down Easy by Elise Mecklinger is specific to the challenges of eating during cancer treatment and may be worth a look. I found it helpful.

     It really is just a matter of not being afraid to try everything and anything to see if you can make it work.  I still try a bite of everything the family is having for dinner. Having a large glass of water nearby is helpful.  

     I started off a little slower than what seems to be normal, but I am happy with how far I have come. I was 7 weeks after my last treatment before I was given the ok to take anything by mouth, even water.  So I am not an ‘early success’ story. I am now 9 months post treatment and still experimenting with different foods, some I have never had before and with my new taste, some I never liked before are ok now.. Spice is still a no go, and I am still dreaming of a steak, but I am confident that it will eventually be on the menu!   

    Keep trying, keep experimenting, you never know what might work.

    Deb

    try it all

    Best way to see what's working is hitting the buffets. Tale a scoop of everything, see what works for you.

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,484 Member
    #4
    Eat anything you can when you can

    Everyone's different and our treatments are different.

    I had 35 Rad treatments on a large throat tumor and luckily I had a feeding tube because

    I couldn't get anything down for probably 4-5 months even had to use a pill grinder and

    get meds through feeding tube. Feeding tube a life saver for me.

    Eventually just try things as you heal up and don't rush it.

    I once got a piece of turkey stuck and had to go to er to get it out and following that I had 4 throat dilations

    to open my throat a bit.

    Best of luck-take it slow

  • SuzJ
    SuzJ Member Posts: 446 Member
    #5
    Gravy!

    I could do chicken with gravy

    spaghetti sauce, with a lot of sauce

    Part of it was the not wanting to, because it took forever to eat a couple of mouthfuls. I'd rather stay with boost, and actually finish before it warmed up, as opposed to eating before it got cold.

  • dan1658
    dan1658 Member Posts: 11
    #6
    Solid Food

    I'm three weeks out of 33 rad treatments for vocal cord  and just had a Burger King grilled chicken sandwich piece by piece. I made it through all of the treatments eating things such as pasta, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, and bread.

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