Recipes For Tonsil Cancer Easy To Swallow

Can anyone post good recipes or a place where to get recipes for easy swallowing blender foods we'll say. Thanks my wife is going to have radiation and chemo for tonsil cancer and was told it will be hard to swallow in more ways than
one. thanks for any tips recipes etc..
craig

Hi Craig,
Swallowing may become more than difficult for your wife. Depending where the radiation will be directed, swallowing may become impossible due to pain and swelling. Your wife may want to discuss a PEG Tube option with her doctors. If you contact the National Cancer Institute, Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER and ask for NIH Publication No. 03-2079, which is "Eating Hints for Cancer Patients, Before, During & After Treatment, it will be very helpful to you. It also contains information about getting printed materials relating to nutrition and diet. I have some recipies for high calorie/high protien diets and would like to get them to you if you wish. Let me know and I will figure out a way to get them to you.
Good luck to your wife with her up coming treatments.
Paul

Thanks for the info Paul,
Yes if you could email them would be good

I have a couple hotmail emails so if you could email to--- Message edited by CancerCompass staff: for personal protection, email address removed. Please review CancerCompass Member Guidelines at http://www.cancercompass.com/common/guidelines.html ----

thanks

will see if this goes through

Hi Craig,
Do not think I can e-mail this to you, so I will send it here. Also, more people may be able to use the information. Please keep in mind that these recipes are not for people who are allergic or intolerant to milk products. Also, your wife may be able to use these during the early stages of her treatment but as time goes on, her taste will change, her mouth and throat may become extremely sore, her sensitivity to hot and cold will change and she may not be able to tolerate or swallow any of these. Please talk to a Nutritionist/Dietician before tring any of these recipes. Your Radiation Oncologist should have one on his staff. God bless and good luck.
MILKSHAKE RECIPES
Fortified Milk is used as the base for most of the following recipes. Fortified Milk has 40% more calories and twice the protein per serving than regular milk and can be added to any recipe calling for milk. Use Fortified Milk for cooking and drinking to boost the nutritional value and increase calories and protein.
FORTIFIED MILK
1 quart whole milk and 1 cup instant non-fat dry milk
Pour liquid milk into a deep bowl. Add dry milk and beat slowly until dry milk is dissolved. Refrigerate. The flavor improves after several hours. Makes one quart or 4-8oz servings of 240 calories and 16 grams of protein.

PUDDING SHAKE
3 cups Fortified Milk 1 cup vanilla ice cream (slightly softened) and one 3/4oz package instant pudding
Place all ingredients in a blender container. Cover and blend at medium-low until smoth and thick. Refrigerate unused portion. Makes 4- 8oz servings of 300 calories and 14 grams of protein

BANANA SHAKE
1 cup Fortified Milk (well chilled) 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream 1 small ripe banana, sliced and 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend for 10-15 seconds. Serve immediately or chill in freezer until ready to serve. Makes 2-6oz servings of 244 calories and 10 grams of protein

COCOA-NUT SHAKE
1 cup Fortified Milk 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter 1/2 cup chocolate ice cream and 2 tsp. Vanilla
Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend for 15 seconds until thick. Serve immediately or chill in freezer until ready to serve. Makes 2-8oz servings of 485 calories and 22 grams of protein

INSTANT BREAKFAST
1 cup Fortified Milk 1pkg. Instant Breakfast(any flavor)
Empty contents of one envelope Instant Breakfast in a large glass. Add Fortified MIlk and stir. Makes 1-8oz serving of 370 calories and 23 grams of protein

STRAWBERRY BANANA SHAKE
1 pkg. Instant Breakfast (strawberry flavor) 1 cup of Fortified Milk and 1 small ripe banana
Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend for 10-15 seconds. Makes 1-10oz serving of 470 calories and 24 grams of protein

PINEAPPLE SUPRISE
1 pkg. Instant Breakfast(vanilla flavor) 1 cup of Fortified Milk and 1/2 cup pineapple-orange juice
Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth (about 20 seconds) Makes 2-6oz servings of 370 calories and 23 grams of protein

COCO-NANA BREAKFAST DRINK
1 cup of Fortified Milk 1 pkg. Instant Breakfast(chocolate) and 1 small banana
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend for 10-15 seconds. Makes 1-10 oz serving of 480 calories and 24 grams of protein

BLENDER BANANA
1 cup light cream(20%) 1 table spoon honey and 1 small banana
Place all ingredients in blender. Blend on HIGH until smooth (about 10 seconds) Serve immediately or freeze for dessert. Makes 1-10oz serving of 630 calories and 8 grams of protein

CHOCOLATE-PEANUT BUTTER MILKESHAKE
2 cups ice cream (chocolate or vanilla) 2&1/2 TBSP smooth peanut butter 1TBSP Vanilla Flavoring 3 TBSP chocolate syurp and 1/3 cup of half and half
Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend about 15 seconds. Makes 2-8oz servings of 491 calories and 12 grams of protein

PEACH EGGNOG
1/4 cup egg substitute 1 cup whole milk 1/2cup sliced peaches (may substitute pears or apricots) and 1 TBSP frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed)
Combine all ingrediants in a blender and blend until smooth. Makes 1-10oz serving of 290 calories and 15 grams of protein

BUTTERMILK SHAKE
1/2 cup buttermilk 1/4 cup lemonade 1 cup ice cream 1/4 cup instant non-fat dry milk powder and 1/2 cup egg substitute
Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Makes 1-12oz serving of 730 calories and 23 grams of protein

SHERBET SHAKE
3/4 cup nonfat milk 1 cup sherbet (any flavor)
Combine all ingredients in blender and blend for 10-15 seconds.
Makes 1-12oz serving of 325 calories and 8 grams of protein

PEACH YOGURT SHAKE
1 cup Fortified Milk 1 cup plain yogurt 1/2cup whole milk and 1 TBSP honey
Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. VARIATION: Instead of peaches, use 1 cup sliced bananas, fruit cocktail, strawberries, raspberries or blueberries. (Strain milkshake if using berries)
Makes 2-10oz servings of 343 calories and 10 grams of protein

INSTANT BREAKFAST FRAPPE
1/2 cup Fortified Milk 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream and 1 pkg. Instant Breakfast (any flavor)
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until thoroughly mixed.
Makes 1-8oz serving of 371 calories and 11 grams of protein

STRAWBERRY-BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE
3/4 cup blueberry yogurt (do not use "light" yogurt) 3 TBSP skim milk 1/3 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen) and 2 tsp. sugar
Combine all ingredients in blender and whip to desired thickness.
Makes 1-8oz serving of 260 calories and 11 grams of protien.

That will really help.

Thanks so much.

Hope all is well


Craig

Hi Craig,
Only too happy to help. If you need any more info do not hesitate to ask. I also answered your other posting under "Wife has tonsil cancer" you may want to read it. Could possibly ease your wife's mind on the delays she is encountering prior to the start of her treatment.
Paul

After a few weeks on the radiation/chemo she won't be able to taste anything, so don't worry about trying to find things she likes. Go for calories and protein.

Boost and Ensure both make "plus" varieties that have about 100 more calories than the standard formula. Try to get 4-5 into her a day and she won't need a tube.

At the worst of the treatment she may only be able to take the vanilla flavor. Even though she can't taste, other flavors may burn her mouth due to the radiation burns. Even chocolate burned my husband's mouth.

Early on though, buy high calorie yogurt, ice cream, protein bars, yogurt shakes etc. Stick with plain flavors, the chemo makes everything taste bad (metal taste). You can grind up soup, but nothing spicy or tomatoe based. Oh and citrus will burn too, even things like melon which you think would be ok.

Good luck and god bless,
Michelle

Hi Michelle,
My wife liked the idea of no tube so she said she will try for 5 to 6 cans of ensure a day.

She does not want the tube at all.

I dont blame her either, or anyone else for that matter.

Everyone here has given such good tips and advice it is nice to have a place to go to and check.
We see the chemo doc today to get a treatment plan, and next Tues. we go to the radiation doc for a mask molding ceremony..lol wife wants me to take pictures of the forming of the mask.

ok I guess. How long does it take till a person can no longer work? then how long to go back to work, ? she is worried about that a lot.

well I hope everyone is doing fine and god bless
Craig

Hey Craig,
I'm so sorry that you and your wife have to experience this. I assume that she is in an early stage and you are on top of the situation but I do want to let you know that if for some reason the illness progresses and your wife struggles with eating, try to demand hydration by IV and if she is losing weight too rapidly and can't consume by mouth, a gastric tube may be an option. I hope that you will not even need to resort to any of this but I wish I knew about all this earlier. It's really hard for a caretaker to sit and watch their loved one become thin and weak from malnutrition. It's also almost impossible to fight when the patient is so weak.
I think it's important to have options and know what's available even if you don't need it.
Good luck.
-Christine

Thanks Christine for your reply,

I know it's going to get tougher but I think my wife will pull through it. She better....
Her staging is at 3 the chemo doc told us, only thing she has not had any treatments yet.....
Monday we go in for the mask making for radiation, we met with the chemo doc and then we go in for a trial mock up how it will be done on monday, then hopefully some treatments will begin. Treatment plan is 7 weeks 5 days a week of IMRT radiation and 3 chemo visits 100 mg dose?? All this just for some time off work...lol We joke about it, have to keep your sense of humor at least mine anyway.
It is a part of life we all should be able to PASS. skip it and go on.. wouldn't that be nice!

Thanks to everyone for the support I pray for all of you.

thanks
Craig