I need food help!!!

Hi Caroline. What you're experiencing is normal and I expect it will remain so for a few weeks after treatment I'm afraid. Ask to try a different anti sickness med. There are all sorts available and one might suit you better than the one you're on. I had metoclopramide and was plagued by nausea right the way through treatment. By week 4 I relied on my NG tube as the pain made it too bad to swallow so at least I avoided the nasty taste.

Try to go back to the soft foods you had after your op and add cream and butter to everything. I abandoned potato for some months as it was just too grainy. Try herbs and spices to give you aroma as well as taste. You can taste through your nose if you blow back up your nose while you chew,

Don't think of "the tube" as a dreaded thing. It's not. For me it saved my life. I lost very little weight during treatment which I'm sure helped me recover fairly quickly and uneventfully. It doesn't hurt getting it fitted and is easy to manage. Yers....it makes you look like a cancer patient but there you go, it's what you are.

One day at a time xx

Hi Caroline. Just adding ti Danis post , my ng tube was indeed a lifesaver for me I had it week 3 and out week 3 of recovery. I’m positive that the tube helped me to recovery fairly quickly. It took away the stress if trying to maintain hydration nutrition and more importantly the pain medication went in via it. It left me free to concentrate on keeping my swallow exercises up and sip water then after food I started to reduce the tube feed and orally swallow. Sadly bread and potatoes are 2 of the worst foods to try they took a good while to return. Make home made soups fortify with double cream , cream cheeses anything ti get extra calories in if you’re determined to nit have the tube get ensures or fortisips  prescribed i was drinking 6 a day after treatment gave me 1800 calories. I list under a stone but took me 15 months after treatment to start putting weight in inwas eating 2500 calories a day. Treatment alters your  Metabolic system as well.

Ask for different anti sickness meds we are all given the cheapest to start with there are lots of different ones 

good luck with week 2

Hazel x

Hello Caroline

Adding to others replies....

I never really had any nausea, (one of those things a lady sitting next to me in Chemo said "take all your pills even if you don't think you need them", I was just lucky perhaps)  lost taste and smell for a couple of weeks and things tasted of metal for a while too.

I was one who managed with no tube but, I have no idea why. (cancer was poss in tonsil but they didn't find primary-30 radio, 2 chemo). I do know though how life saving and less stressful the tubes can be and would go along with your teams advice.

I lost about 5lb during treatment which I was grateful for and found that trial and error with food helped. Heavily enriched milkshakes, slightly watered down, with ice cream and peanut butter sipped throughout an hour was great, Fortisip drinks also and high % cocoa chocolate nibbled all added calories. Texture was difficult as others have said as, the more dry, the harder to swallow, So baked Sweet potato was better than jackets or even mash (because of high water content), toasted light bread better than fresh, and now (3 years later) streaky bacon better than back. Peaches and cream also great, It helps if you can offlload what doesn't work foodwise on to someone else too. I shared my experiments with hubby and mentally that helped me as I didn't feel I was being wasteful .

Truly hoping you will find something that works for you.

Tricia

Thank you Dani

some good advice thank you xx

Thank you Tricia,

Ki had the fortsips after my operation I didn’t like them but I do accept that I might have to have them again. Iv bought ice cream ready for milkshakes, Iv been having Mac ds as a milkshake and a ice cream are 550 calories.

Thanks for the good advice and tips, I know it’s going to get worse il just have to take it as it comes, Iv done 8 of 30 treatments xx

Thank you Hazel, good tips and advice 

just hate the thought of the tube been put in and it been in my throat ♀️ but il take it day at a time, il certainly ask for more anti sickness tomorrow xx

Hi Misscjayne

You might find that yoghurt with no bits in it, custard, sloppy weetbix mixed with pureed fruit and custard might slip down a bit easier. I lost 10k.g. during my first radiotherapy but did not have a nasogastric tube as it was not deemed necessary. (different cancer, different protocol in Australia) Even though the Fortisips or Ensures might taste like rubbish if you can stomach them get them down you as they are really high in calories.

Lyn

Hi there.  I had really bad nausea but there are lots of pills etc to help with that, snd they did work.  I survived on weetabix with double cream and sugar.  I didn’t have a tube snd I didn’t loose any weight.  When I started to recover I made a shake with milk, banana, avocado snd blueberries with added double cream.  I love cream snd it didn’t hurt at all to eat it as I found most foods sort of  ‘ burnt’ my mouth, even really bland stuff.  Cream never did snd I could always swallow it.  Hope this helps.  Best wishes. Lizzie