my staple the last 7 months has been ensure

when i had radiation 39n to my mouth. i could not eat anything. boost and insure. i did not want the feeding tube. i lost 40 lbs. but i survived that.i also had bad sores in mouth and food started to taste like metal.. it will get better after treatment but will take some time.

I am alway surprised when I here that no feeding tube was needed. I had to use the feeding tube all the while I was getting radiation. I had home health people set up a pump and they provided the liquid diet. That way it was covered by insurance. Oatmeal was the first thing I ate and with a plastic spoon because of the metal taste. It has been two years now and I now eat eggs, spagetti, taco salads, chilli, soups, and shrimp. Still no breads. I miss many foods, but I have to keep eating. If you are thin to begin with, I would not risk losing more because you need your strength to get through this. If you have anymore questions, please ask.

Paula

Hello,I'm new to this group however I do have a question for those of you who replyed to this question...I'm here to support my dad:) he has a trach in place,for those of you who are able to eat do you also have a trach?he's having a real hard time swalling anything and they just streched his esophgus,so we are praying that helps.thanks everyone for helping us out and supporting one another:)

i know it has been a while for this comment , but just wanted to add that mcdonalds shakes helped me and i would add protien mix to it. i could not stomach the thickness of ensure. the shakes had just enough of water and ice in it for it to go down smoother. when you lose your tastebuds like i did,it was all about getting the nutrition not the taste at the time. also i was fat to start out and could not get food down my throat at first for many weeks. so i did not have a choice and had to get a feeding tube. i don't regret it , it saved my life cause i was able to stay strong during the treatments still lost a lot of weight but kept most of my muscle mass because of the protien shakes i was taking and the liquid in my tube helped as well.

My husband is 9 months out of treatment, 8 rounds of chemo and 38 radiations, he was on the feeding tube. He can still only eat soups,
very soft veggies, yogurt, cottage cheese and pasta. No bread, cakes or cookies. He lost 50 pounds during treatment and still has not put it back on, During treatment he could not eat anything, even got hard to swallow water, had to sit with IV at least once a week for hydration.
Hang in there.

I have not had the amount of pain that you have had but I did lose my pallet and I have been drinking ensure as well. I would suggest the ensure that has the most calories. Maybe try to have at least 4 of them a day. I know that it is a boring meal but it will help keep that feeding tube away.

Try smoothies. Liquidize fruit and even veggies. Easier to manage and you will be getting much needed nourishment. See that you drink enough too. You can add some Ensure to the smoothies too, as well as coconut milk if you want to. Have blender will manage! Shalom.

I council people on this and find it sad that patients would have to go through this without any diet counseling. Many patients get feeding tubes, as the side effects become much worse during and after week four; however there are some foods and tricks I can suggest.

1) Gargle frequently with salt and soda rinse (1 qt water, 1 tsp. baking soda, 3/4 tsp. salt. Sleep with a humidifier.

2) Food ideas - it's all about optimizing calories, products such as benecalorie and Boost Very High Calorie can be helpful. Both can be purchased online.

3) Add non-fat powdered dry milk for extra protein to things like mashed potatoes and gravy, oatmeal, smoothies, etc.

4) Soups - add canned coconut milk, whisk eggs into the broth while cooking, orzo pasta, etc.

5) Add a little milk to eggs then scramble and top off with mashed avocado and cheese.

6) Fresh mango and papaya smoothies with added protein and greek yogurt.

I was 97 pounds when I was finished with my treatment. It was very hard to get any food down. Just keep it soft, soft boiled eggs was great and ensure. Don't give up!

Hi! I'm on day 16 of my 35 treatments. Protein shakes are the best right now for me. I eat ice cream also, I cannot eat too many other things I want to eat. Eggs, mashed potatoes, and mac n' cheese are staples in my diet. I have Boost to drink, but the chocolate burns my mouth and throat a bit. Last week I lost 6 pounds :( So I'm trying to bulk up any way possible. I know once I'm done with my radiation, I can get back to my healthy eating choices.

Take care and good luck to you!

Hi, I just finished up chemo #2 out of 3. Then scheduled for 7 weeks of radiation. Got the mouth sores a couple days ago. I have been eating Magic Cups, like ensure but frozen. Our restaurant supply store in our town was able to order them for me. I found them also online at http://www.homecarenutrition.com/ since our store only had the vanilla ones. They also have an orange cream flavor.

what was your first week of chemo like?

I know what you are going though because I went through it also. and I practically live on Ensure , I had 33 radiation treatments and 12 Chemo treatments. and suffered a lot.. At times I had to force myself to eat , but due to my type of cancer surgery they had to cut the nerves in my neck and lost tongue and mouth feeling so eating was a constant struggle do to no feelings in my mouth area.