1-13-96
Cancer page update: Diet
This is not one of my diary pages, rather it is a recap of what
I have
found that I am able to eat. Eating has been very difficult and very
important
during my fight with cancer.
In order to properly fight the cancer, and withstand the treatment
a person needs to eat, drink and keep his or hers weight up. Different
cancers and treatments will of course affect this.
The radiation treatments I received were in the mouth and
throat, which
almost completely destroyed my tastebuds and saliva glands. To say
nothing
of my sore mouth and throat.
However, my experiences with chemotherapy should apply to almost
everyone
that receives a chemo that causes nausea.
With chemo I found that I would get a bad taste in my mouth that
would
get worse when I ate or drank dairy products. When I would drink a
glass
of milk the bad taste would flood my mouth and everything I ate
would taste
bad. Also, most foods did not sound good and would actually taste bad.
The few exceptions were chicken noodle soup, crackers and 7-up. Then I
found that Sunny Delight tasted good(California Style). This problem
would
last about a week after I finished my treatment. During that week I
would
gradually be able to eat more and better. One of the first real
foods that
I could eat was chicken, no coating, broiled, not fried. Hamburgers
were
one of the last things I could eat.
Once I started radiation things changed totally. A sore throat,
and
no saliva glands make eating very difficult. I found that the bad
taste
from chemo was not as bad but lasted 2-3 weeks rather than 1 week.
Also,
the problem is compounded by my being able to eat only soft moist
foods.
And the 7-up and Sunny Delight started tasting very sour, as did
everything
with citrus juice. The sore mouth and throat also makes sure you don't
eat very spicy foods. My doctors recommended hiprotein diet
supplements
such as Ensure. However I got very tired of that, also I had such a
sore
mouth and throat that it was very hard to swallow even that.
So if you are going to receive radiation in the throat be sure
to have
the tube put in your stomach. It may not sound pleasant but it will
enable
you to maintain your weight and water. I was also told to try
mexican food.
It does help, but it sometimes is too spicy for my poor sore mouth.
However
I am now able to eat about as normally as I can expect to for the
forseeable
future. I have taste buds on the end of my tongue and I can drink
milk.
That makes eating much easier and more enjoyable. With every
mouthful of
food I also take 1 or 2 sips of milk. That tastes much better and does
a better job of moistening my mouth than water. I do not eat
exceedingly
dry foods such cakes and breads, although I was able to eat a large
chocalate
chip cookie the other night and a brownie last night. For me, eating
is
now a very time consuming venture. I used to eat very fast, I would
finish
eating before everybody else, and would be bored waiting for them. Now
they finish long before me. I hope that will improve when my mouth
doesn't
hurt as much. It hurts to eat eggs even.
dickcr@yahoo.com
