rmm17 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 My mom finished her twice daily chest radiation on Friday. Her side effects are pretty bad and i'm not sure what i we can do. He throat is obviously very sensitive and she is in a lot of pain and having trouble swallowing. They gave her percocet but she cant keep it down. Swallowing most food causes sharp pain in her chest, and she's coughing up some blood. The part i'm most concerned with is she cant really eat anything. She had some babyfood, but boost and icecream make her vomit. I suggested she freeze some gatorade or pedialite in ice cube trays, and suck on them. She also had diarrhea. Any suggestions for foods that she may be able to eat? What worked you you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 The Gatorade and Pedalite are a good idea. What about pudding or jello? Could she keep it down? Instant Breakfast will give her nutrients and calories also. Maybe she can get something for the nausea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy RN Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Definitely get something for the nausea. Compazine, zofran, if she can not swallow get tigan suppositories, they really!!! help. As for the food, try liquids, broth, gatoraid, melted jello, ice cream etc. Have her take the anti nausea med first then after 30 min a pain med then later the food. The diarrhea can be controlled with imodium or if needed prescrip lomotil Good luck-this to shall pass with time. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 I had problems swallowing actual liquids, the easiest thing to get down was mushy food or things that turned mushy when chewed a bit - Double Stuf Oreos (70 calories each!) were my favorite, but the milk chaser about killed me to get down. I had a shot of George's Aloe juice to soothe my esophagus 3-4 times a day and when the pain intensified, the doctor gave me some really gross medicine that coated my soothed throat and gave some relief to swallowing - that part of digestion that gets saliva into the tummy on a semi-continuous basis... I cannot remember the medicine, it was used a decade or so ago for stomach ulcers. The diarrhea needs to be treated ASAP. If she isn't taking much liquid in, the diarrhea is pulling all the water she has in her system and she's going to dehydrate at a much higher rate. Check with her doctor on things that can be done to stop that problem. ...and try to get food down her that isn't too liquid. I found that the swallow mechanism takes smaller swallows of "food" than liquid and that food went down easier. Even when I tried to just sip liquid, it hurt and hurt badly. Good luck, Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilliBr1 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 The diarrhea needs to be treated ASAP. If she isn't taking much liquid in, the diarrhea is pulling all the water she has in her system and she's going to dehydrate at a much higher rate. Check with her doctor on things that can be done to stop that problem. This is so true! My mom had this problem and dehydrated very quickly, so keep a close eye on her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Might try Breeze -- it is like Ensure, but is more fruity than milk=based. Your mom definitely needs to intake nutrition, especially liquids. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma's kid Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 What worked for my mom is most anything *cool* Oddly enough, water was really difficult to swallow and she found flat 7up tolerable. It had to be flat because the bubbles hurt her throat/esophagus. She also could eat jello. We tried to get her to eat yogurt but she doesn't like it so that was out. My mom also had a prescription for Tylenol with codeine...liquid and *magic mouthwash* The mouthwash has a numbing med and that helped some too. The nausea/vomiting/diarrhea can be helped with medication. Those things can cause dehydration. I think I would call the doc and let him/her know what's going on. It took my mom about two weeks after she finished her radiation treatments for her esophagus to heal. She still is uncomfortable but it is sooooooo much better! Libby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 I found that puddings and yogurt were the easiest things for Dennis to eat. He would eat the jello but wasn't a big fan of it to begin with so that was tough. I was always pushing him to drink Ensure and he did pretty well with it. I would always keep a glass of something right beside him, wherever he was, so that if he ever had the urge to drink, it was right there. The flat Gingerale also worked for us. Keep in mind all of this was taken in very small amounts but it was enough to avoid dehydration. Hope you find something that works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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