hi, i asked the same question a couple of months ago when i was ready to start chemo. if you look under the advice section w/in the discussion groups you will find the great advice I was given. The article was entitled "How to get ready for chemo?"
Part of it depends on the type of chemo they use too (as well as just the differences from person to person!)
I was on adriamycin/cytoxan for 4 treatments. From moment to moment my thoughts of foods would change. I could gag at just the thought of a food that was mentioned, or the sight of one brought to me that 20 mins earlier sounded good. Everything tasted like metal, and I used plastic utensils. I mainly ate carbs (pasta, bagels, rice, oatmeal, potatoes, etc). It was all that was acceptable to me. Most meat gave me that "gag thing" going on, occasionally I could eat chicken. Spices really didn't affect foods much one way or another. Also, smelling foods cooking could send me gagging! I never threw up, just felt "gaggy" and nauseated off and on. I figure the anti-nausea meds they gave helped in that. POPSCICLES are a great thing to have on hand. If I would start feeling like I could throw up, or feeling real weak, getting a popsicle would quickly take care of the problem. Also, eating little amounts more frequently throughout the day helped me. Gave me something in my stomach more often, empty stomach was more prone to feel nauseated.
I've just had my second treatment of Taxotere. There are no foods that do that to me with this. I'm able to eat about anything. I'm even able to drink my pot of coffee a day again! Basically, for me, when the side effects "set in" food doesn't taste like anything at all now. I eat it just so that I can say I ate. I speak w/ another lady on here who is also on Taxotere, and she still has a lot of nausea with it, so it does vary by person. There are also issues of diarrhea OR constipation w/ some of the chemos and the drugs they give you to counter side effects.
Sooooo basically, I guess I"m saying you will have to look at hints of what others say, and try them out and see what works best for you. What works best for someone else might not be your ticket!
As for the losing weight! HA!!!! I'm 10 pounds lighter than when I was first diagnosed. I know my breast didn't weigh 10 pounds. It wasn't that big! So I had lost a few extra pounds during the time of my surgeries. My weight has maintained (or gone down and back up 5 pounds from week to week) still weighing me in ONLY those 10 pounds lighter.
They say that partially that's due to losing muscle during treatment, replacing it w/ what some of us already have too much of, those extra love handles we keep carrying around years after they were found. They say that if you're feeling up to light exercise, it can help maintain muscle and keep it from turning to fat. I have yet to find the time/strength to exercise, though I still have to maintain a lot of "normal" activities throughout my day even while in treatments. We have a large household so my ability to "not do" isn't so hot, is what I mean by my normal activities/duties! SO I wish you good luck w/ that, perhaps you'll feel up to some exercise!
I also have a port and am thankful that I had it put in. The area was tight where my surgeon had to put it, so it angles just slightly. My nurses at oncology have fits sometimes getting it to work right. They say it's "positional" and I often have to turn my head a certain way, or lay back, or raise my arm up to get it to start, as the bone pinches on the catheter otherwise. Then it's all good! BUT considering they can't use my right side for IV's and the hospital surgical staff blew a lot of my veins in my left arm during my surgeries, a port was definitely the way to go! I barely notice it's there at all, so life is good!
I wish you the best of luck! We're all in this together! Stay in touch!