best foods to begin "eating" again

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olybee
olybee Member Posts: 85
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My husband had neck dissection in April, sort of got some ability to taste things again before radiation began. Then he went from being able to sort of taste to saying that everything tasted HORRIBLE - just a horrible taste. He's now finished radiation at the end of July. He's now able to drink Ensure, says vanilla flavored is least offensive. He actually says "it tastes like ****" (sorry, his words, not mine.) Is there anything that anyone can suggest that we can do that isn't as bad with the damaged taste buds (or whatever's going on?) He tried cream of rice the other day and said it tasted so bad he couldn't eat it. I'm trying to help him gain weight, not sure if we just continue with Ensure or ???
thanks for any help anyone can offer

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  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #2
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    Hi olybee

    It will take sometime for his taste to fully come back, in the mean time everything will taste like crap. For now Ensure or anything else you can get in him do it as he needs the nutrition and to start gaining weight back as soon as possible. Everyone if different in how long it takes for the taste buds to return so just hang in there is will be soon.

    Hondo
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #3
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    Ensure Plus
    It took me awhile also...I finished up June 2009.

    The Ensure Plus (Strawberry for me) was the most bang for the buck at 350 calories per can. Some things that I could taste and even had flavor that was near original was canned spinach, also DelMonte Sliced Peaches in Light Syrup (the jarred ones)....

    Sweet things took forever or never came back... After all of this time, I finally had a little Ice Cream recently that actually tasted good and didn't lose it's flavor after the first few spoonfuls.

    Things will slowly improve more than likely. If it tastes like crap now wait a few months and try again...

    Best,
    John
  • Greend
    Greend Member Posts: 678
    #4
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    Bland foods
    I could only eat bland foods. Mashed potatos, grits (yes I'm in the south), cream of wheat etc. For some reason chicken noodle soup worked. It all tasted like crap but I knew I needed to get something in my stomach.
  • Lelia
    Lelia Member Posts: 98
    #5
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    taste and eating
    Hi olybee: Nutrition is as crucial right now as calories and weight gain, my husband is facing some of the same issues you mentioned.

    Of the prepared drinks the 560 calorie 8 oz cans of Carnation VHC (very high calorie) vanilla ain't bad, many prefer it over Boost/Ensure and it packs the highest calories; as with most things YMMV.

    We use The Ultimate Meal plus fresh vegetable and fruit juices, ground flax seed and vitamins. In smoothies we use yogurt, tofu and whole fruits/veggies. We try anything he thinks sounds good, today he wants to try sushi, a good sign. Last night he wanted a Pepperidge Farm coconut cake, hey whatever works!

    Check out Sweetblood's Superthread for a lot of helpful info.
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #6
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    Olybee
    Its kinda one of those things where everyone is different. For me, sweet things came back first. Which sucked for me, because I hated sweets. If he can tolerate the Ensure, then definitely drink that. Pretty much he will probably go through the 'bite of this, bite of that" phase, where you throw out a lot of stuff. Don't buy a lot of something, unless you really like it too or you may be stuck with a lot of it. Also, a lot of us find that one day we can eat something and the next you can't. I know for a long time anything savory tasted like metal and pure salt. I

    Try and stick to things that are kind of bland. Generally don't use salt or pepper. If cream of rice tastes bad, I don't know though. That's pretty bland.

    Throwing out some ideas to try that have worked for others:

    Egg Drop Soup
    Wanton Soup
    Rebecca Katz's Magic Mineral Broth with noodles
    Soft Scrambled eggs. Poached were easier than scrambled for me at first.
    Oatmeal
    Creamed spinach
    Sweet potatoes
    Avocados
    Vegetable creamed soups. (fresh, not canned. Canned is so salty)
    Cooked squash. (like acorn or butternut) Summer squash. (zucchini or yellow)
    Bananas
    Smoothies
    Pastina or Orzo cooked in stock and or with butter
    Congee or jook
    Pancakes
    Grits
    Mashed potatoes
    Quiche
    Puddings
    Omelets

    It's takes quite a while before anything tastes good, or at least for me, it took months.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #7
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    Lelia said:

    taste and eating
    Hi olybee: Nutrition is as crucial right now as calories and weight gain, my husband is facing some of the same issues you mentioned.

    Of the prepared drinks the 560 calorie 8 oz cans of Carnation VHC (very high calorie) vanilla ain't bad, many prefer it over Boost/Ensure and it packs the highest calories; as with most things YMMV.

    We use The Ultimate Meal plus fresh vegetable and fruit juices, ground flax seed and vitamins. In smoothies we use yogurt, tofu and whole fruits/veggies. We try anything he thinks sounds good, today he wants to try sushi, a good sign. Last night he wanted a Pepperidge Farm coconut cake, hey whatever works!

    Check out Sweetblood's Superthread for a lot of helpful info.

    Lelia - Sushi
    Just a side note, and something to check into with you MD's for their input....

    Depending on where he is in treatment, sushi might not be the best to eat. Just for the fact of his immune system being down and the very small chance of a parasite or some other organism he might not be able to fight off as easily as he would other wise....

    Best,
    john
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #8
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    Lelia said:

    taste and eating
    Hi olybee: Nutrition is as crucial right now as calories and weight gain, my husband is facing some of the same issues you mentioned.

    Of the prepared drinks the 560 calorie 8 oz cans of Carnation VHC (very high calorie) vanilla ain't bad, many prefer it over Boost/Ensure and it packs the highest calories; as with most things YMMV.

    We use The Ultimate Meal plus fresh vegetable and fruit juices, ground flax seed and vitamins. In smoothies we use yogurt, tofu and whole fruits/veggies. We try anything he thinks sounds good, today he wants to try sushi, a good sign. Last night he wanted a Pepperidge Farm coconut cake, hey whatever works!

    Check out Sweetblood's Superthread for a lot of helpful info.

    Hungry

    You ladies are making me very hungry with your list of foods
  • olybee
    olybee Member Posts: 85
    #9
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    Hondo said:

    Hungry

    You ladies are making me very hungry with your list of foods

    Wow
    I want to say "THANKS" to everyone who responded. I've now got a big list of things to try. I appreciate the comment about not buying too much of anything. That's where I guess I'm going wrong - I'll make a whole serving of whatever and then he says ROLF. I guess I'll just have to consider him my baby for now and just try baby steps with the different foods.
    I don't know how you guys all do it. It seems so overwhelming, and I'm not even the patient!

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