Eating after surgery

http://psnc.org.uk/wolverhampton-city-lpc/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2013/09/Mi67891227.06.13V1.01.pdf

This helped me gain 10kg, hope it helps

Thank you so much!! I will definitely be trying some of this for my dad! 

It works because you do t actually have to eat more. It just piles in the calories, good luck

Hi, I was told to stick to a soft diet and avoid hard to swallow foods. I wouldn't have dared trying crisps,too hard and dry so I would imagine your dad has to wash them down with a drink. I was told to avoid eating and drinking at the same time, to wait for 30 minutes before drinking. I learned to avoid sugary foods and drinks and simple starches like potatoes. High protein and fat in the diet helps sustain and gain weight. I found it was a bit of trial and error to get the food intake right. Small amounts about 6 times a day rather than regular meals was the only advice I was given that helped me. The only nutritional advice I found any good was to fortify milk. Good luck to your dad and kind regards Frank.

Hi Frank, it certainly is trial and error but as each day goes by we will hopefully find something else his new system can tolerate. I will try to fortify the milk today and see how we get on with that! Thanks for the advice and we wish you well. 

I only use gold top milk now, the hero wife finds a way to get double cream or butter into almost everything. Porridge with double cream and honey, or scrambled eggs with extra butter make good breakfasts. Small bowls of homemade soups ( so you can sneak more cream in ) work well. Don’t worry about regular meal times whenever he can eat get some down him even very small portions. My wife has done this for me and the pharmacist called the ward to check my weight before mixing my drugs because she thought there had been a mistake with the amount of weight I had gained.

Hi there,

Over 2yrs ago since my op but I can sympathize so much with your dad's eating struggles. It's such an individual trial and error to find what your system can tolerate.

I can't remember too much about what I ate but I think the best thing I did was keep trying to eat regularly. The way I saw it was like having to retrain the brain and intestines to kind of get in the habit of digesting again. They've had a massive trauma afterall so everything is out of whack. It does improve overtime, honestly!

I  seem to remember putting protein powder in my veggie stew and soups to add more nutrition because the creamy , cheesy high fat diet we're encouraged to eat can feel a bit sickly after a while. Also, it took me months and months to realise that anything that went down too fast (eg. the soups and protein drinks I had because I thought they were easier) actually made me feel more nauseous. So perhaps your dad's instinct to eat crisps and cereal is a good one, something that takes a bit of chewing or has a bit of texture is better for me to this day and soups or yoghurt can suddenly make me feel sick. It's a long road and it must be hard when all you want is to help him get well. I lost 4stone in my year of treatment, including the first couple of months after treatment but then very, very slowly the pounds came back on, it's so gradual but it happens and the awful reactions after the op do lessen. Wishing you and your dad so much continued strength and recovery. 

The first thing I'd like to say is VERY WELL DONE to your Dad in now being the other side of the Op.

I am now 3 years post Ivor Lewis and feeling healthier than I have in years.

There's many great and supportive people on here that will try to help you and your family on your Journey . 

I had a real taste for quavers and Wotsits ...all though that has tailed off a bit recently . As many people are suggesting it's very much trial and error and also small and often. My dietitian suggested high fats (trifles etc) where good to give energy and my wife got great use of a Handblender to blitz literally everything - be it Sunday Lunch or even a chicken curry :) . She also bought a soup maker to literally make any soup I fancied and could add cream that again helped with high fats/ energy. We also kept a food diary and could see what foods I dealt better with as time went by. I have been very lucky that I can pretty much eat anything but often in much smaller portions ...which isnt a bad thing ...

Here's a link to my blog that my daughter kindly put together to help anyone that may need or value a simple guide to what can be a complex new world at times 

myoesophagealcancerjourney.wordpress.com

Hope this helps but feel free to ask any questions at any time and dont have your Dad (or yourself) do this journey alone.

Best Wishes 

Peter

Hi, thank you so much for your reply, what you say is making sense! My dad is so relieved when I told him everyone is saying things get better with time. In actual fact today he hasn’t been sick at all and managed to eat 1450 calories so we think we are going in the right direction. It certainly is trial and error.

He also has had a little burst of energy today, which we haven’t seen since pre surgery, so hopefully the eating is helping with that! I think the constant being tired was contributing to his low mood.

thank you for your advice and sharing your journey! 

Hello Peter,

wow I have just read your blog, I literally think it sums up really well what my dad has been through the past 6months. It was great to read and that your post 3 years and doing great! It’s a real inspiration!

it’s been such a scary and emotional time especially in this pandemic as we couldn’t see my dad once we dropped him off for his operation until 12 days after when he could come home. However like you say he is now on the other side and We now need just concentrate on the recovery.

thank you for taking the time out to write to us I really do appreciate it!