cancer nutrition after treatment

A giant plus is that these products have a 30 day 100% money back guarantee.... What would it do to try for 30 day? 

That is what we did and you can see Marks progress...and considering stopping chemo - at least for a few weeks till he can get past the nausea.

Sorry to hear about you father's throat cancer.
For me I was diagnosed with Stage IV tonsil cancer with lymph node involvement last December 2009. I had six weeks of chemo and six weeks of radiation with an additional three more weeks of chemo 24 hours a day for five days a week.

Biotene rinse does help and so does the brushing of teeth and tongue.  Biotene tooth paste is okay bt I like Kroger sensitive enamel guard.  Do not buy the mint as that also causes throat inflamation early on. Was brushing seven to ten times a day to get ride of pasty taste etc.  I had the PEG tube as I was completely unable to swallow anything. My wife fed me Carnation Instant Breakfast VHC 600 calorie cans she purchased from a medical supplier. Was 190 before treatment but lost fourty pounds.

After about two months I was able to get down top ramen soup. For me the warmth felt good and anything that was room temperature or less was extremely hard to swallow. Top ramen soup became my treat for the next four to six weeks. Fianally was able to get other real soft type bland soups down.  I use to love spicy foods but so far after six months after radiation anything the least spicy set my throat on fire. I was unable to even eat yellow mustard very sparingly until a few weeks ago.

I have an extremely hard time eating dry foods and especially hamburgers or biscuits. 

Taste buds are mostly lost and or have changed dramatically. Really down't like the taste of certian foods like steak, chocolate etc. Chicken taste best to me or closest to what it originally tasted like.  I am not able to eat chciken breast as it is too dry and now the easiest piece is the thigh nto swallow.  I am constantly asking if food taste okay to other people. This is where it is paramount to be understanding as I get a hard time from wife whenever I ask if the food is okay. I guess she takes if personal.

I have asked my doctors etc about taste and sensitivity of throat the burning from spicy foods but have received no real solid answers.  Would like to know what other people experience also.  After reading the post many people have different reactions to food and taste. I really dopn't look forward to eating because it is so hard to swallow, food doesn't have any real taste and the fact that I constantly have to drink while eating to help swallowing. I can only drink sodas if they are room temperature but that is slowly changing and found it best to pour the soda in a glass to get ride of a lot of the carbonation.

After six months,  very little of the salivary glands have come back and very little of the taste buds. I would also like to hear other people experience here also.

It is kind of a trial and error to see what is the easiest food to swallow and Yes other people's history helps everyone to get ideas.

Again best of luck and post again.  

I hear ya.  When your radiation is done and you are at your weakest, they say goodbye you are on your own.  I had the peg tube and no one showed me how to use it.  I had nasopharyngeal carcinoma stage 4.  It has been just over a year and I am now concidered in remission.  I am having trouble with saliva.  So my eating is moist, soft foods.  I feel its good to have fiber, so I eat oatmeal and add ground flax.  I eat steamed vegetables.   I eat fruit and yogurts for probiotics.  I still drink ensure with revigor in the morning and the ensure for bones at night.  I also take a multi vitamin, omega-3, calcium with D.  I just try to eat right and use supplements to fill in the gaps.  Good luck in your eating. 

God bless

Paula

On Nov 11, 2010 4:46 PM lardog04 wrote:

Sorry to hear about you father's throat cancer.
For me I was diagnosed with Stage IV tonsil cancer with lymph node involvement last December 2009. I had six weeks of chemo and six weeks of radiation with an additional three more weeks of chemo 24 hours a day for five days a week.

Biotene rinse does help and so does the brushing of teeth and tongue.  Biotene tooth paste is okay bt I like Kroger sensitive enamel guard.  Do not buy the mint as that also causes throat inflamation early on. Was brushing seven to ten times a day to get ride of pasty taste etc.  I had the PEG tube as I was completely unable to swallow anything. My wife fed me Carnation Instant Breakfast VHC 600 calorie cans she purchased from a medical supplier. Was 190 before treatment but lost fourty pounds.

After about two months I was able to get down top ramen soup. For me the warmth felt good and anything that was room temperature or less was extremely hard to swallow. Top ramen soup became my treat for the next four to six weeks. Fianally was able to get other real soft type bland soups down.  I use to love spicy foods but so far after six months after radiation anything the least spicy set my throat on fire. I was unable to even eat yellow mustard very sparingly until a few weeks ago.

I have an extremely hard time eating dry foods and especially hamburgers or biscuits. 

Taste buds are mostly lost and or have changed dramatically. Really down't like the taste of certian foods like steak, chocolate etc. Chicken taste best to me or closest to what it originally tasted like.  I am not able to eat chciken breast as it is too dry and now the easiest piece is the thigh nto swallow.  I am constantly asking if food taste okay to other people. This is where it is paramount to be understanding as I get a hard time from wife whenever I ask if the food is okay. I guess she takes if personal.

I have asked my doctors etc about taste and sensitivity of throat the burning from spicy foods but have received no real solid answers.  Would like to know what other people experience also.  After reading the post many people have different reactions to food and taste. I really dopn't look forward to eating because it is so hard to swallow, food doesn't have any real taste and the fact that I constantly have to drink while eating to help swallowing. I can only drink sodas if they are room temperature but that is slowly changing and found it best to pour the soda in a glass to get ride of a lot of the carbonation.

After six months,  very little of the salivary glands have come back and very little of the taste buds. I would also like to hear other people experience here also.

It is kind of a trial and error to see what is the easiest food to swallow and Yes other people's history helps everyone to get ideas.

Again best of luck and post again.  

 

   I was also diagnosed with the same cancer in Jan. 09 but after the surgery they only did radiation on me for 33 treatments. On top of the cancer I am an insulin dependent diabetic so I can't just eat anything. I am glad to hear they didn't take your teeth which they did do to me but I was 60 years old and had to many fillings and the radiation can cause some really bad things if I had kept my teeth. The big problem for me is the radiation did such a number on my throat that even using dentures and chewing my food I have a really hard time trying to swallow. I have to blend most of the food I eat or eat yogurt and other food like that. It is amazing that I can blend just about any food with some bullon but it is a hassle and would love to be able to just eat regular food. before going for radiation I did some research and some heavy thinking and remembered that Aloe Vera is probably the best thing for burns. I bought a few bottles of drinkable Aloe Vera ( not cheap stuff but the best quality I could find) and swished it and swallowed it 4-5 times a day during rad treatments til my throat got to sore to swallow anything. I would do this just before and after my rad treatment and I never lost my taste buds and my slaiva glands still work but not 100% so I do have a little dry mouth. As for any supplements I just take diabetic vitamins and they seem to work just fine. I do wonder why they didn't use chemo on me but am also glad they didn't. I have talked to 2 people who went through the same cancer and they wouldn't let them take their teeth and now wish they had. One person's teeth are so loose now his wife has to blend his food due to the pain from trying to eat with the loose teeth and he hates dentists and woun't have them pulled. My other friend is now having to deal with the dentist constantly and it looks like they will end up taking all of his teeth in the end. Not having teeth is terrible and I don't really know if I would let them take them if I had to do it again but it water under the bridge now and at least I am cancer free. Aloha

Hi George, 

Really sorry that you are where you are. I can relate. The whole process is frightening and demoralizing and yet with luck & perseverance most of us can survive and learn to live with a "new normal."

I'm over 5 yrs out of stage 4 SCC - tonsil & lymph glands. Peg (stomach tube for one week less that 3 years.) Today eating life is liquid or very thinned puree followed by water. A swallow specialist taught me how to hold my breath & then swallow. Only small sips allowed or the whole magilla falls out of my nose. Also, those pesky twice-a-day radiation sessions left a small section of access to lungs burned open, so aspirating fluid happens on a regular basis, but I can cough it out. 

Went to a place in NYC 5 yrs ago. They did not sell products but did sell nutritional info (with referenced research sites) mostly to HIV and/or AIDS patients. I was and fortunately am not either of those. The NYC presented me with a goal to build my immune system without encouraging the growth of cancer cells. 

After conferring with them immediatly threw out one of the canned pharm. alleged nutritional slop which had mostly sugar followed by chemicals. When I asked the cancer nutritionist about taking 2 types of canned crap with so much sugar she replied that it was "vital to keep the coloric numbers up." Several top cancer hospitals give the no-no to process/refined sugars during treatment because cancer cells supposedly thrive on them. The place where I was treated is highly respected & I'm very grateful to them for being here but their nutritionists felt that there is not enough research to have patients lesson their sugar content, when it can add the needed calories (while we cancer patients are barfing all over town & not getting any REAL food in our bodies.

I used a strong blender (started with a regular one and within 2 years got a VitaMix as a gift.) Peeled apples, added sardines, chicken broth, whey isolate protein powder, greek yoghurt and liquids from juicing veggies. After treatment I added Green Vibrance, Perfect food and a liquid multi-vitamin. Occassionally Gator Aid if the electrolytes (salt) count was down. i thinned it out with Pom, prune, grape, Alovera or Acai juice and used the blunt end of wooden grilling sticks to roto-till out any lumps. Utilized pump only occasionally as it caused so much gas. I didn't use every single thing every time but over a period of a week I would have. Also used soda water several times a week because the bubbles helped keep the tube clean.

Doctors never gave the blessing for my system, nor did they say NOT to do it. I was told by the NYC folks that I would start feeling stronger within 6 - 8 weeks. I felt much better in 3 and never used any cans of crap again. The Docs did invite me to speak at a very large Head & Neck conference held in Boston a few months into my own regime. 15 Physicians & me. I brought my blender filled with an ugly green/gray stinky liquid and suggested that they start thinking outside the box. They need to get innovative for us and perhaps someday for one of their own.

George, I don't know if any of this helped you. I hope so. I am not prescribing for you because I am not a nutritionist or a medical professional. I, like so many of us on Cancer Compass, am just a cancer patient who wanted to live and feel better. So far, both those things are happening. This cancer business is no head cold. We each endure the unendurable. It does seem to get more manageable talking with others who are, or have, shared a similar experience.

Hang in George.

Warmest regards from New England.

bostongirl

Yes, I agree. In my job, I work with supplement information, but not benefits. I use product spec sheets, nutrition pannels, certificates of assay etc. None of which indicate whether or not you should take green tea extract, just information on the quality, microbial content etc of the green tea lot in question. I think it best to rely on research on specific efficacy found in Pub Med, Web MD etc.

Maybe it's psychological, or my need to be pro-active but I think nutritional supplements have been a big part of my recovery. But you're right, I'll never know for sure. It's funny I'm more skeptical of the food I eat than my CoQ10!!. Anyway, thanks for the input.

thanks so much, i too have heard great things about Vita D-3 and Tumeric

Yes, I think that's where I saw him too. Very informative,

Wow, your experience was a whole lot worse than mine. I was able to avoid the "tube" and I think that was a good thing in the long run. Thank you so much for the info. It's a little complicated but you've given me some good ideas.

Thanks,

Byron

Smitty609,

Sorry about your boyfriend having recurrence post Whipple surgery.

Just wanted to let you know that CA19-9 often rises after chemo begins.  The reason is due to the necrotic tissue created when the tumor dies as a result of the chemo.  So the rise in the CA19-9 from 6084 to 8162 between 9/8 and 10/9 was probably due to the tumors dying.    

It is highly doubtful that the supplements you describe are in any way responsible for the decrease in the CA19-9 result.  By the time the CA19-9 was drawn on 11/5, he had been on chemo since 9/8, long enough for the CA19-9 to begin decreasing after the initial rise.

Also, FYI, liver function test results vary by labratory, so listing normal resluts as 17-63 is meaningless, especially when you do not indicate which test was done .  You should advise your friend to stop all alcohol, if he is currently drinking any; Stage 1 cirrhosis is a very serious matter, particularly in conjunction with his history of pc.

Wishing you continued decrease in the CA19-9.