Are there any dietary restrictions I should know about befor

[Langskjar]

Are there any dietary restrictions I should know about before beginning chemo therapy? I'm scheduled to begin 4-6 ccyles of carboplatin and taxol as adjuvant chemo following a wedge-resection of a adno carcinoma tumor 3 weeks ago.

Thanks......Bruce

[kimmek]

Hi Bruce

Pretty much your diet will probably be whatever you feel like eating. The docs want you to eat to keep your energy up. Only time I have ever heard a dr tell someone to eat and not lose weight. Im sure the healthier foods that you can eat the better. In moms case she never had an appetite, and when she did it was so hard for her to swollow (from Radiation) that there were very few things she could get down. Pudding was her favorite.

Good luck with the chemo, mom had a pretty easy time with those same drugs, hopefully you will too.

God Bless

Kim

[Don M]

Hi Bruce: I don't have much to add to Kim's post except that you might try some supplements to bolster up you immune system. I have heard that astralagus and green leaf tea is good. There are probably others. Ask your oncologist.

[chloesmom]

Bruce,

I was given thorough instructions by the nurses, the onc, and the nutritionist on my first chemo day. You're there all day pretty much with nothing to do so it's a good time for them to meet with you.

What it boils down to is to take really good care of yourself during chemo because it's very hard on your body. You need to drink a lot of fluids--in order for them to count as fluids they cannot be caffeinated. I drank a lot of water and when I got tired of water, I drank lemonade and crystal light and I even had Tang (remember Tang?).

They also said to eat a lot of lean protein in order to help keep those blood counts up and a lot of fruits and vegetables. I never had a restriction on fresh fruits and vegetables, but sometimes if your counts go down, they will tell you not to use fresh uncooked fruits and vegetables until your blood counts come back up. In that case, you just need to use frozen or canned fruits and vegetables or cook your vegetables yourself.

I ate a lot of sugarfree popsicles--that helped my stomach feel good. I ate what tasted good otherwise.

And, they will tell you this, but you are generally to avoid any type of supplements while on chemo.

Cindy

[rosegarden]

It's interesting that you mention you're not allowed supplements while on chemo.

Is this because of the extra work your kidneys must perform?

[chloesmom]

This is an area of some controversy, but I think it's fair to say that generally, most oncologists want patients to discontinue most supplements, except a multi-vitamin, during chemo treatments.

It's not about the kidneys, but it's to keep those free radicals 'out there' so to speak so that the chemo can kill them. Supplements are supposed to act on free radicals too, and if you use them, the thought is that they will dilute the effects of the chemo. And, it would be awful to go through all that and only get partial effects.

That being said, there is the total opposite school of thought too that finds supplements fine to use during chemo, but that's not what my oncologist wanted.

Also keep in mind that your very best way to get anti-oxidants and all that other great cancer-fighting stuff is in the foods you eat, so that's what I tried to do during chemo to make up for the lack of supplements.

Cindy

[Maryanne]

Cindi,

What supplements are you talking about? Joel is starting his carbo/taxol on the 14th. He was also told he could eat anything, but if his counts go down too low to keep away from fruits and veggies. But he could eat the canned fruit.

We hold him that Joels takes a multi-vitamin, (Centum, silver) and he said that was fine.

Were you talking about Vitamin supplements?

Maryanne

[chloesmom]

No, I'm talking about things like selenium, mega doses of vitamins like C and E and A, and the other things considered anti-oxidants. I took a multi vitimin all through chemo and that was fine with my doctors. They just wanted me to wait on the things like selenium and the anti-oxidant type supplements while I was getting chemo and for a month afterward.

The reason for the restriction on fresh fruits and vegetables if your counts go too low is that it's not possible to wash them well enough if your blood counts get really low and you risk bacterial infection from anything that is on the fresh fruits and vegetables. With low blood counts you can't fight off what normally our bodies just take care of on a daily basis. It's for that reason that they want you to switch to canned and frozen fruits and vegetables until your counts get back up to fend off bacteria. That didn't happen to me, but it is a common occurrence.

On my first day of chemo, the dietition spent time with me and went over everything I needed to know....you will learn a lot that first day because that's the time they tell you everything. You're there with an IV for hours with nothing to do so they give you all the info then. Any doubts or questions just ask them. They are there to help you get through this, and my experience with oncology and chemo was as good as something like that can be.....they were all very helpful and did whatever they could to make me comfortable.

Good luck....this seems really tough and confusing, I know, it was for me too. I just kept thinking that all kinds of people have done this and come through on the other side just fine, so I decided I could too.

Cindy

[paddy]

My onc. told my husband to avoid greasy foods before having chemo. Other than that, I would say eat as much as you can whenever you feel like it and choose nourishing foods that will help you keep your strength up. Good Luck to you! Paddy