ztweb Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Dad is halfway through his radiation, with a 3 week follow up of whole brain coming at the end as well. He is also to do two more rounds of chemo as well, and that will hopefully zap this sucker out of the ballpark... Anyway...we knew that dad would be tired here starting at about week three, and I also knew from Don that he might be sore in the eating department. It is weird though...he has to chew his food really, really well...(not so weird) but he can't have anything hot or cold. So...not sure what we can do...any advice for ideas for weight increasing diets for this guy? Today he had some noodles and 2 ensures...that is it!!! Look at his picture...does he look like the 'noodles and ensure' kind of guy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchurchi Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 My husband had the same problem during his lung radiation. nothing too hot or cold. pretty much ate soft food at room temp for while. Cream of Wheat was a good breakfast food, had to cool off a bit. Pudding snacks that do not need to be refrigarated. Stuff like that. Ensure did not taste good at room temp so Alan would not drink it. Hope some of this helped and it does get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancy B Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 My doctor recommended Boost Plus for added calories along with the nutrition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carleen Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 I would suggest Spagetti, cooked nice and soft served warm to room temp as tolerable. Pudding packs, tuna salad, egg salad sandwiches are kind of mushy, maybe bake your dad a nice cake, one that is one of those pudding in the mix extra moist cakes with a whipped cream frosting (may not want any of that scratchy sugar frosting). It would be high on calories, plus if moist enough would be soft going down. I don't know about anyone else, but I could eat cake every day Otherwise, also have him try the magic mouthwash stuff. It really worked well when my husband had his radiation on his chest and neck. It didn't taste good, and the effects didn't last long, but it enabled him to eat some normal foods and keep his weight and energy up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myrnalu Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 I had the same problem,the radiation does a number on the esophagus.Had a hard time with breads going down.Ensure plus is great,350 calories.room temp foods. Marie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Lucie actually likes cold things like ice cream, Frosties, Smoothies, etc. She takes small bites, lets it melt in her mouth, and then swallows slowly. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlegirl Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 My mom has had issues with this as well. And its been nearly 4 weeks since her last radiation treatment and she feels it is getting worse, not better. Her doctor feels that she needs to have her esophagus stretched (I posted below asking who has experience with this). This eating problem has baffled us as she is unable to eat the things you would expect. Bread, mashed potatoes and noodles just won't go down. But she was able to eat nachos, french fries and other 'rough' foods. She was also eating alot of milkshakes and ice cream but now the cold food seems to hurt more. She's been eating alot of soups but it even hurts to swallow that. I made her a batch of broccoli cheese soup this weekend and will make her some chicken and rice to see if that goes down. Boost and Ensure are good too but mom got sick of those. (Actually vomitted a couple times and she swears it was not the chemo it was the Boost.) Talk to your doctor about meds that can help with this too. Mom is taking protonics and carafate to help with the acid backing up, and tried to use the magic mouthwash but she must be allergic to something in the mix as it actually GAVE her mouth sores instead of improving them. Good luck, Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Lamb Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 I ate a lot of oatmeal,jello,and somehow tuna and noodles agreed with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missyk Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Mom would eat just sliced roast beef, turkey, ham...deli slices rolled up to get the protein since she didn't much care for the boost or ensure. She said breads and pastas were her worst for some reason. McDonalds hamburgers and cheese burgers went down, too! Guess it was all the grease! LOL She did finally go with the magic mouthwash at the very end of treatment. It gave her about 4 minutes to be able to get some food down without severe pain...but it made her gag to take it. Take the good with the bad, I guess! LOL Hope he finds something that works! Mom wasn't a noodle and ensure kinna gal going thru it, either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Double Stuf Oreos - 70 calories/cookie. If chewed well, they just kinda ease down the throat. To soothe the throat, buy some aloe vera. I used Goerge's brand per my radiation oncologist and when the irritation was REALLY bad, he wrote a prescription for Carafate. Worst tasting crap in the whole world, but it DID give me some relief. A shot of the aloe to soothe and then the dose of Carafate roughly three times a day....and lots of Oreos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.