Swallowing

Hi Wads

I had similar in the first few months so I had Heinz soups with soft bread and loads of Ben&Jerries (ice cream), cheap calories ad relatively easy to swallow.

My throat has improved loads since I finished RT so maybe that will help...

Stay Strong 

SiT

Hi SiT

Hope this is ok to ask....did you have your swallowing problems before or after your lobectomy? His was before his surgery but it’s got much much worse since.

Thank you for the advice in food etc I will get him some soups in later today

regards

Debbie

Hi Wads

Difficulty swallowing is not uncommon with lung cancer and could be caused by a number of things such as;

Tumour pressing on oesophagus; this usually eases when the treatment kicks in

Oral thrush  in back of throat; best to eliminate this before chemo starts as chemo would make it worse. Treatment, as used on babies, can be obtained over the counter at local pharmacist.

Keep mentioning it whenever you see your cancer team and when you go for treatment.

The key thing is to maintain his calorific intake, especially ahead of the treatment. So high calorie full fat foods that are easy to swallow (cheese, yoghurts, jelly  etc) are the way forward. SiT's recommendations of soup and ice-cream are sound. Grated cheese is also a useful high calorie addition to hot foods as it can easily melt into mashed potato, soup, scrambled eggs etc. 

It is a case of finding something can Hubby can tolerate, even if it is a strange  combo!  Ahead of/during treatment the focus has to be on calorific intake rather than healthy eating.

Hope this helps a bit.

Kegsy x

hi Debbie

I didn't mean to mislead you as I have not had a lobectomy, apologies.

If you click on the icon next to SiT (the mug), you will be able to see my bio and my journey to date.

I very much hope you find some foods your Dad can tolerate - have you asked in your local Boots or similar for something like Complan or even Readybrek - add honey for extra goodness.

And don't forget, you could always put a normal family meal in the blender.... Maybe to so nice but effective.

Best

SiT