Does anyone have any diet suggestions for getting through chemo?

hi ribbsie
i don't know about nutrition and all that stuff. to begin with you sister may carry on eating normaly to begin with but as the treatment goes on she may go off food. i know it will be worrying but do not try to force her to eat, just do her smaller portions and try differant types of food rice, pasta, jelly was one of my wifes faverites for a while and you will find that her tastes will change from one week to the next. and when you ask what she fancy's the most common answer you will get is i don't know. try not to worry about it too much if she is hungry she will eat
good luck paulo

As you may of seen in the blogs, I just started the same Chemotherapy regime for the same diagnosis. The Oxy sent me quite nauseous for a few days, but I still felt hungry and wanted to eat healthy stuff. It also gave me quite an aversion to cold, it makes it burn or at least tingle, so eating some cucumber even a few minutes out the fridge was a little painful and surprising !

This left me for the first week wanting to stay away from food out the fridge (dips, veggies with lots of fluid, even my favourite Yoghurt got put aside for a while) and have nice healthy hot food. I guess everyone has different tastes, but I really enjoyed a spag. bol. I made with lots of colourful peppers and beef. Different coloured veggies generally equal lots of healthy vitamins and minerals, and red meat replaces iron, which I was told to watch. Spinach and Broccoli have lots of iron too - hence tonight was spinach curry night ! Meaty stews in general appealed a little bit more during those days, and a general desire to eat more fresh food.

The aversion to cold went away after 5-6 days, I'm pleased to say, and on week 2 of the first cycle I am finding the nausea has all but gone as well. So hopefully after the first week, which looking back was a little harder than I realised, things get better. I haven't been too adverse to the odd glass of wine, although perhaps not in the more moderated healthy quantities recommended by doctors ! Oh yes, and fibre and water - vital things. Oxy tends to "slow things down" in the bowel department, or so I found, so I almost was reaching for the (mild) laxatives at earlier stages. 5FU then tends to "sleep things up a little" in return, so you can't win, but fluids and fibre generally keep things in good check.

But I am no nutritionist, and suspect there are many better resources out there ! I'd just recommend cooking some favourite foods with a healthy slant, but mainly something she will be really keen to eat normally, to stimulate her appetite.

as different chemos produce different side-effects, and some give a metallic taste to everything (use plastic cutlery if so, they say). I'd only add that I would be rather more cautious about the red wine as the liver is involved, and is anyway working overtime flushing through the chemo. Maybe red grape juice would have the anti-oxidant benefits without the toxins? I also found juices were helpful as you are getting vitamins even if you feel the sight of a big meal is off-putting. Prune juice, meanwhile, is excellent for constipation without adding more tablets to one's regime.
Wishing you best of luck for your sister's treatment. xxxx Penny

Hi Ribbsie, firstly a big hug for you and your little sis. My husband has the same condition but he is 55, 23 is so young. Ben had some good advise there and I would recommend talking to a dietician, your GP or your oncology liason nurse should be able to refer you. Steve (my husband) isn't able to tolerate milk or high fats so we are struggling to get some weight on him (he lost a lot pre-chemo because of complications), but if your sis can take it then try getting the Frijj drinks, they come in some yummy flavours and are an easy way to bump up the calories, along with the supplements that you GP can give you if they become necessary. On the whole I think little and often of anything they fancy is good though as it keeps the system going - and plenty of rest too, but fresh air and a little exercise if she whenever she is feeling up to it.

Good luck and keep coming back and chatting, we all know how much that helps us carers get through. xx

Hi Ribbsie
How lucky is your sister having such a good older brother. My husband is on a different chemo for bowel cancer liver secondries, and I started trying to give him healthy foods plenty of fruit etc but to be honest in the end I was just glad to get anything down him. So just try and make sure that she eats whatever she feels like.
At one point all he could manage was the fortified ensure drinks , I read somewhere about anti oxidents being good, then read conflicting advise which said we don't want antioxidents it's the poisonous chemo thats killing the cancer cells we don't want to stop it.
So just try and get her to eat whatever.
Good luck to you both I hope all goes well for you

Tina

xx

Hi everyone, thank you for your advice!
I'll print it off and take it with me. She likes healthy food, so I guess that's good. Fingers crossed she starts chemo on Thurs (if she feels well enough). Will keep in touch and let you know how she's going. May even get her on here if she's up for it.
Cheers, look after yourselves

Not sure if you're still looking for dietary information. The below link should take you to the leaflets page of my oncology centre at Clatterbridge. There is in particular a leaflet called 'eating well coping with side effects' which is very useful.

http://www.ccotrust.nhs.uk/patients/general_information/leaflets/nutriti...

best wishes

andy

Hi Andy

My husband attends Clatterbridge

Tina

Popping back in to say...

Cycle three and the cold fluids are getting to me. Have found the answer - elderflower cordial and water. The cordial warms the water a little more (which we have in a filter jug - so it's room temperature and not too cold) and the slight "constricting" feeling I was getting drinking just cold water is a little less harsh with some gentle cordial.