Advice on eating after treatment

Hi this is Hazsl I am 21 month post radiotherapy for tonsil cancer with several affected lymph nodes, I had a n g tube from week 3 of treatment to week 3 of recovery , we are all different how we respond to this phase. I found poached eggs on toast yes  roast cheap nasty white bread lots of butter and I found them ok to eat. It really is trial and error , some days I could eat some days it was impossible , but small amounts if home  made soup  leek am delicious potatoes butbeeally thinned down add extra cream to get the calories in . some days half a small warm pork pie nibbled.

Plus shop made cottage pie minus the potato home made mince is really difficult , no matter how fine the texture just doesn’t want to go down. Try jelly and cream ,again custard  be grainy .incoikd manage the inside of a custard tart but not the pastry . Just a few ideas 

 .I have a blog with a lot of links to others and sites that  give info on eating. I found a Luke warm drink helped to ease food down ,don’t know if your hubby has lost his uvulva it’s quite common in our type of treatment and this can effect eating for a time .Has he started with dry mouth yet? 

Mash potato can still be difficult for me even this far down as the grainy texture can still stick.dont get me wrong I can eat most things a rare. Rib eye is one of my favourites .At this stage its a case of getting calories in healthy eating comes later ,small cake smothered in ice cream or cream .

It really is baby steps some days 2 forward one back but he will get there just takes time.

keep in touch Hazel.

Hi Kim

Sorry your husband is still in so much discomfort but he’s only just coming out of the worst bit of all this. 
RT keeps on working for some weeks after treatment stops yet our doctors insist on telling us we will start to feel better after two weeks. 
I had a nasogastric tube for weeks after I stopped treatment and only slowly managed to start eating. 
Scrambled/ poached egg and Pasta always went down ok The first pasta I tried was tinned macaroni cheese which is soft but soon enough I managed to eat fresh pasta with creamy sauces. Soups with cream ( but not tomato which is quite acid and irritating)!

Ice cream, yoghurt, trifle are worth trying  

I always like porridge but found I couldn’t eat it at first so tried old fashioned semolina mixed up with lots of milk  

Strange what you say about fine porridge  it made me gag as well but I managed with a spoonful chased down with a glug  of warm milk  

You can get a medicine called Oxytecaine which is an antacid mixed with a local anaesthetic. Gargle then swallow just before eating  

You can also swill oral morphine in the mouth before swallowing which helps with oral pain  

It was a good 8 weeks after treatment before I was eating much so it’s early days yet  

I think in balance it’s a case of trying small amounts of different things and taking baby steps  

I hope he continues to improve 

Hi Kim

Pleased to hear your husband is taking adequate pain relief to help him in these early days.

I think it's quite difficult to recommend foods to try as it seems to be random as to what suits each individual, especially as taste and texture are affected.

Personally I could manage Ready Brek with honey provided it wasn't too thick, semolina, pureed soup and custard.  These were my staples for at least 2 months during and after treatment.  I did add full fat milk if they were too thick to make the consistency easier to swallow.  Rice pudding was something I moved onto after a couple of months, porridge with local honey took considerably longer.   I tried sauces, gravies, yogurt, ice cream, jelly etc but I just couldn't bear the taste unfortunately.  Potato was also no good due to the gloopy and granular texture.  I would say it was around month 4 when I started to turn a bit of a corner but it can be a long slow process.

The best advice I can give is for your husband to just keep trying small amounts of different things - whatever he thinks might suit.  He may only be able to manage one or two spoonfuls at a time.  It's worth going back to a food at intervals as what isn't suitable one week may be better in two weeks time. 

As for the cramp like pain you describe I don't remember having that.

I wish your husband all the best in his continued recovery.

Linda x 

Hear hear re the 2 weeks post treatment advice from consultant!!  Not true in my case either Dani. 

Don't anyone feel they are not doing well if struggling after 8 weeks plus as I now think that's more the norm.   

Tina xx

Hi Tina

how are you doing ?

Dani, I will dm you.  Arduous is the one thing I will say.  X