Appetite!

Wow I would say you are doing great. The little and often approach/advice is a good way to go if you are struggling to eat anything, I lived on soup for months but it sounds like this is not such a problem for you.

As long as all your food is properly cooked and hot you eat what you can. The only thing advised to look out for is to keep clear of foods that an expectant mum can’t eat.

Hi Rose, 

I was exactly the same.  First week after chemo appetite was very poor and most things triggered the nausea. I ate porridge, cereal, soup and mcflurries (bad, I know, but the only thing I could stomh somedays). The other 2 weeks I could eat normally and pre chemo diet.  Had no issues and docs were happy as long as I was able to eat a fairly healthy diet.  Hope it all goes well, Rach  

Thank you both, I kinda thought it must be ok if I felt ok but best to be sure ... I'm still avoiding chilli and curry and alcohol!

Should maybe mention that I'm also back to my normal intake of around six cups of normal tea a day, but I take it very weak, lots of milk and no sugar, so I'm hoping that is ok...

You are doing great - I could not face Tea and Coffee during my treatments, only ever had chilled water.

This was the information I was given about food during treatment……

Part of the way chemotherapy works is it kills fast growing cells and this includes not only the cancer cells, but your white blood cells (neutrophils) that fight infections so we can be more open to infections including food bacteria that a normal healthy immune system would deal with

There is some debate about whether patients need to change their diet to prevent infections when having chemo.

Some doctors and dieticians believe it’s very important to follow strict dietary guidelines. Others give less strict advice. This is because we don’t have evidence behind this and we are using professional opinion.

This can be confusing but food safety and hygiene are very important…… and why take the chance of developing a food based infection.

Some tips for you:

Shop smart – Check foods are in date.

Make sure you get the chilled and frozen foods home quickly.

Prepare and clean up - Clean hands and the kitchen.

Use separate chopping boards for raw and ready to eat foods.

Prevent cross-contamination - Separate raw meats, chicken, seafood from ready to eat foods in the fridge.

Cook food properly, piping hot throughout.

Eat out in clean places and make sure your food is hot.

Don't have carry out food as you can not control it.

Eat

Meat, chicken and fish cooked through

Pasteurised milk

Cooked eggs with a firm yolk

Washed fresh or cooked fruit and vegetables

Hard cheese or soft cheese made from pasteurised milk

Vacuum-packs meat, ham.

Re-heat cold rice till it is steaming all the way through.

Some foods have a higher risk of becoming tainted with bacteria. Here are some foods you might want to avoid.

Avoid

Raw or undercooked meat, chicken, fish and no shellfish

Unpasteurised or raw milk

Raw or undercooked eggs

Unwashed fresh fruit and vegetables

Soft cheeses made from unpasteurised milk

Uncovered deli meats

Cold rice

To limit your risk of infection from food:

• Cooking food (eggs/meat/fish) thoroughly and having good hand hygiene.
• Avoid cross-contamination between cooked and raw foods
• Wash fruit and vegetables well
• Avoid unpasteurised cheeses and milk
• Choose pasteurised milk, yoghurts and cheese
• Ensure that food is in date
• If having cooked/cured meat, opt to vacuum packed and not from the deli counter.

I endorse the Highlander's advice about dodging infections from food sources. 

Chemo did do funny things to my appetite and I drank about a gallon a day or water, due to a raging thirst. I liked to take a bit of homemade lunch in with me on chemo days - anything to avoid the hospital sandwiches, which were always meat based and not encouraging.  As I finished the treatment, I found I was losing a lot of weight and wasn't sure how it happened because I was eating as much as ever and less able to take exercise, due to tiredness.  

Remembering my nursing experience, I tried those liquid supplements I used to coax my patients to drink.  I really hadn't realised they were so unpleasant.  The only good thing is that they do pack a lot of nourishment into a small volume, but you need a very sweet tooth!   I did enjoy home made soups and casseroles, minimal effort to cook and nice to eat.  A bit of spicy curry can stimulate the appetite.  Biggest treats were those tinned milk puddings, but I'm of the generation raised on tapioca & suchlike.  Sheer comfort food...

Cecren

Yep I'm into the comfort food totally during the treatment week, but after that I really crave my 'nornal' diet. I am careful with hygeine etc.,  If anything I think I'm putting on a little weight but that is mainly because it's winter and I'm sitting around a lot more !

Oh Yuk, poor you! I can't even begin to imagine how sick I would feel if I had to drink that much water!  I'm back on tea now, but during the treatment week I drink very diluted ribena, and elderflower cordial, again very diluted, and the occassional mint tea.

Early on in my main chemo I harassed my wife that I wanted a Chinese takeaway (even although my team had told me not to have them) the following morning I was very ill.... the rest of the family were fine... I had to go see my team and after a few tests I had developed Helicobacter Pylori, a bacteria that developed ulcers and stomach inflammation.

It turns out a high percentage of the population have HP but it’s basically dormant but a small infection can set it off

The 3 pack antibiotics I was given for the HP were horrendous..... never did have any more takeaway during and immediately after treatments until my counts were well up.... but even now - 6 years on we are very careful