food intake

Hi, This is my first time of writing since my husband was diagnosed with pharyngeal cancer. He was diagnosed last August, operated on in September, and had six weeks of Chemo and Radio therapy. He is coping very well......that said, he obviously has gone through some terrible times. I am very proud of the way he has coped, but I am very worried about what little food he is now able to eat. He once had a very good appetite and loved trying different foods, but with the absence of saliva glands ( or very little) I find it a constant worry as to what to fed him. He still has overnight nutricia feeds. If there are any tips and helpful information I would be grateful.

Thankyou Twinsnan

On 7/1/2009 twinsnan wrote:

Hi, This is my first time of writing since my husband was diagnosed with pharyngeal cancer. He was diagnosed last August, operated on in September, and had six weeks of Chemo and Radio therapy. He is coping very well......that said, he obviously has gone through some terrible times. I am very proud of the way he has coped, but I am very worried about what little food he is now able to eat. He once had a very good appetite and loved trying different foods, but with the absence of saliva glands ( or very little) I find it a constant worry as to what to fed him. He still has overnight nutricia feeds. If there are any tips and helpful information I would be grateful.

Thankyou Twinsnan

 

I believe this is normal.  I had surgery for my swollen lymph gland on the right side of my neck the 1st of feb in 08.  then I started 35 treatments of radioation and 8 treatments of chemo.  I had a feeding tube the whole time.  There was a few times during the treatment where I couldn't keep my nutriates down and went into the hospital.  I felt like I was starving to death.  Doctors helped me through it with meds but I still lost 25 pounds.  I remember trying to eat real food here and there but it tasted aweful.  I had no real desire to eat because I was dependent on the feeding tube. I went back to work august 1 08.  Still weak but trying to make myself eat. I had to make time to make myself eat.   I was not able to eat enough to have my tube removed until Oct of 08.  I do better if I get to eat out because its a treat for me.  I would say that it took me until Jan or Feb 09 before I really had a motivation to "eat and eat and eat".  I felt like I had some sort of eating disorder.  But I continued to try different foods.  Now I don't eat meat (grosses me out) and some bread is difficult.  I do eat everything else (fruit smoothie everyday).  I have not gained my weigh back I maintain (that is a good thing for me).  Another words I think you will find that if he has any cravings, he should act on them and try them.  Eventually I think he will enjoy eating again.  As you can see it took me a full year.  He should eat as health as possible but it there is something he wants, by all means eat.  That is what my doctors told me.  There was some time when all I wanted was potatoes and gravy.  There were times when I would try something and not be statisfied or couldn't swallow it and I cried.  Thinking, I will never eat again, I am going to be on this tube for every.  Hopefully you have a good nutriate and not one that is filled will sugar.  

 I will put him in my prayers.  With God's help, he will get through this stronger than ever, it just may take some time.  Be patient.  And pray alot. :-)

Sincerely,

Sam

On 7/1/2009 twinsnan wrote:

Hi, This is my first time of writing since my husband was diagnosed with pharyngeal cancer. He was diagnosed last August, operated on in September, and had six weeks of Chemo and Radio therapy. He is coping very well......that said, he obviously has gone through some terrible times. I am very proud of the way he has coped, but I am very worried about what little food he is now able to eat. He once had a very good appetite and loved trying different foods, but with the absence of saliva glands ( or very little) I find it a constant worry as to what to fed him. He still has overnight nutricia feeds. If there are any tips and helpful information I would be grateful.

Thankyou Twinsnan

 

Hello:

 I was diagnosed with sphenoid sinus cancer - a form of nasopharyngeal cancer - late in September of 2007.  With surgery too risky because of location, I underwent radiation treatment for 6 weeks with 2 rounds of chemo. Because of the inflammation to the throat area, I used a PEG tube (stomach tube) in order to get my nutrition from liquid meals. That stayed in until April (7 months) although I began limited use of whole foods in January/February.

Bottom line - nutrition is critical to recovery. While using liquid meals - since I didn't really "feel" hungry - I would make deliberate attempts to have a liquid meal every two hours via the tube. I tried to get in at least 2,000 calories a day. I also tried to drink liquids by mouth to keep the swallowing reflex going.

When I started with whole foods, it was whatever I could deal with because of constant dry mouth. Scrambled and sunny side up eggs, sometimes adding some melted cream cheese for calories. Meals with lots of sauces, gravies, and soups. I stayed away from meats and chicken since they were too dry for me to deal with.

Pasta in broth is good or thinned out Alfredo Sauce. Don't worry about fat or calories right now! :)

I also used protein drinks by mouth and some specialty drinks like Naked Juice. Try to stay away from the citrus flavors since the acidic nature might bother your husband.

Fruits are good - especially watermelon. Cut up peaches worked for me too. I also kept ice cream sandwiches handy since they were easy to grab and snack on.

Invest also in a good blender to make your own protein drinks. Soy milk, ice cream, fruit, peanut butter, protein powder - throw in what you can. The idea is to keep up the swallowing reflex and also to get in the calories.

The radiation does beat up the saliva glands - some will come back, some won't. But to deal with the dryness, keep liquids handy - bottles of clear water. Keep one out on the kitchen counter, by the tv, on your nightstand by the side of the bed, and even keep one in your car. 

The Biotene line of non-alcoholic mouthwashes and also toothpastes can help somewhat with dry mouth. I used to rinse a couple times of day with a dilution of the mouthwash. Helped even if temporarily and also gave me some control - important to a cancer patient!

 Things do get better! I had lost about 45 pounds with treatment but put back about 22. My doc, who previously beat me up for losing weight, is now putting the pressure on me to slow it down!

It's now nearly 20 months post-treatment and I have quite an appetite. I still have problems with minimal dry mouth but keep the liquids up and also mouth care. 

If there's any other help I can provide, please let me know. It sometimes can seem a struggle, but you do get better. 

- Jeff

Carnation has a nutritional drink VHC (very high calorie) it works wonderful. There are 564 calories in a small can! This helped my brother maintain weight. Good luck.

God Bless,

Cathy

My husband was down to 118 pounds after treatment and surgery for rectal cancer, even though on a feeding tube 12 hours a day.  Nothing tasted good to him and when it did, he did not want much so I asked the doctor for an appetite stimulator on the advice of the nurse with the healthcare company that was providing the formula for the tube feeding.  The doctor prescribed Megestrol 40MG to be taken 10ML twice daily.  In  a few days, his appetite increased and food started tasting good to him again. He only used half of the first prescription and did not need to refill.  In just two weeks, he was able to have the feeding tube removed. He was getting 1500 calories a day in the tube feedings alone.  In three months he gained 40 pounds back and I am now giving him 3 high protein shakes throughout 24 hours along with what ever he wants to eat.  Ice cream bars were a favorite of his when nothing else would go down. I did not like giving him the sugars involved in the feeding tube formula, the nutritional drinks and the ice cream bars but he was getting very emaciated and down to nothing more than skin and bone.  He now looks as good or better than before he was diagnosed in September of 2008.

Dear Friend, here is a Supergreens shake recipe that's good for anyone and especially great for cancer patients who need maximum nutrition at least once a day. The ingredients are available at grocery and health food stores and are easy to put together:

Blend and enjoy.        * look for these items at a health food store.

 May God bless you and your loved one.

On 7/1/2009 twinsnan wrote:

Hi, This is my first time of writing since my husband was diagnosed with pharyngeal cancer. He was diagnosed last August, operated on in September, and had six weeks of Chemo and Radio therapy. He is coping very well......that said, he obviously has gone through some terrible times. I am very proud of the way he has coped, but I am very worried about what little food he is now able to eat. He once had a very good appetite and loved trying different foods, but with the absence of saliva glands ( or very little) I find it a constant worry as to what to fed him. He still has overnight nutricia feeds. If there are any tips and helpful information I would be grateful.

Thankyou Twinsnan

 

I have been through this two times with my husband.  You will need to avoid spicy foods for a few years(maybe forever) it will burn the area where the chemo treatment was done.  My husband drinks a lot of water while eating his food, little or no ice.  You will find that over time he will be able to swallow food again, but at this time he should be able to swallow mashed potatoes with gravy.  It will be something that keeps wait on him, also meats that are cooked medium  to medium rare.  The protein needs to be kept moist or it will more difficult for him to swallow .  What happens it will scratch his throat, and those tissues are already on constant low burn so think of a child who had their tonsils out for a few years.  Another thing that I am not aware, was it in his throat or where his tonsil would have been?  Makes a different latter on for the types of food he might not be able to eat in the future.  My husband's was in the area of the tonsil, so food will stick in that hole.  I found that rice is a no no yet he will eat it once every 2 months, and pasta can be a problem without some type of sause on it for him.  I buy instant potatoes since I go through so much, and gravy mixes.  Schillings homestyle has a great flavor, along with the others I buy and save the left overs for the next meal  I avoid off brands due to the sodium content, not great for those tender tissues. 

When he does not want to eat food, he drinks Ensure.  The coffee latte and pecan have good flavors, just depends on what flavors he will like.  I hope that this helps you, any thing else I can give you assist on in the food department just right me. 

On 7/1/2009 twinsnan wrote:

Hi, This is my first time of writing since my husband was diagnosed with pharyngeal cancer. He was diagnosed last August, operated on in September, and had six weeks of Chemo and Radio therapy. He is coping very well......that said, he obviously has gone through some terrible times. I am very proud of the way he has coped, but I am very worried about what little food he is now able to eat. He once had a very good appetite and loved trying different foods, but with the absence of saliva glands ( or very little) I find it a constant worry as to what to fed him. He still has overnight nutricia feeds. If there are any tips and helpful information I would be grateful.

Thankyou Twinsnan

 

My husband went through some dreadful surgeries, which included removal of some salivary glands, along with side-effects of radiation and a clinical trial. He preferred 2 homemade soup receipies and I blenderized, added protein poder to and packaged in small freezer containers for quick servings. Homemade favorite fruit slurpies (any fruit that blenderizes well) can be nutritionally enhanced by adding powdered vit/min supplement, powdered Vit C and Protien powder.

 The hand held blenders are wonderful; easy to clean and ready to go!  Good luck; I did this for severl years.