| | Joined: Nov 2009 Posts: 493 Platinum Member (300+ posts) |  Platinum Member (300+ posts)
Joined: Nov 2009 Posts: 493 | I eat chili-lime chicken wings from the microwave, so they don't dry out - Gordon foods makes them, as does Tyson. Also, my local coffee shop sometimes carries a wonderful butternut squash bisque. It is slightly sweet with cinnamon and other spices, and I can actually taste it. i have tried that soup from the grocery store, and it just isn't the same.
Female, nonsmoker, 70, diag. 5/09 after tongue biopsy: stage IV. Left hemi-gloss. and left selec. neck disec. 30 lymph nodes removed May 20. Over 7 weeks daily rads. with three chemo. PEG removed 12/4/09 Am eating mostly soft foods. Back to work 11/09 Retired 4/1/11. 7 clear scans! Port out 9/11. 2/13. It's back: base of tongue, very invasive
surgery involving lifestyle changes. 2/14: Now speaking w/Passey-Muir valve. Considering a swallow study. Grateful to be alive.
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 71 Supporting Member (50+ posts) | | Supporting Member (50+ posts)
Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 71 | I was very surprised to find a very odd thing that goes down well...lettuce salad! I was told NOT to eat lettuce after surgery so I didn't for quite a while. I ate some before radiation started...but not since then. Hubby had a salad last night and it looked SO good...I took a piece of lettuce and it chewed up and slid down...especially with dressing! :o) So...I had one for lunch today! I have eaten all 3 meals today...cooked veggies, salad and part of a baked potato and soggy breakfast cereal.
The salad certainly amazed me that I can do that tho!
Michele in IL
Female - 53 no smoke/drink
tongue Biopsy 8/2010
Surgery 9/21 for SCC left side tongue stage II. Prtl removal tongue/left side lymph nodes. All Clear
Radiation started 11/2, ended 12/17
Lymph node involved left side along with gum involvement 2/9 Fibular flap failed 2/22.
passed away 1/12/12
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 10,507 Likes: 7 Administrator, Director of Patient Support Services Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Administrator, Director of Patient Support Services Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 10,507 Likes: 7 | Congrats on doing so well eating, Michele. Make sure you are getting enough protein, that is what heals you. I have learned this the hard way. Try some high protein powder. It mixes easily with most liquids including milk or juice. Hope you continue to make such excellent progress.
ChristineSCC 6/15/07 L chk & by L molar both Stag I, age44 2x cispltn-35 IMRT end 9/27/07 -65 lbs in 2 mo, no caregvr Clear PET 1/08 4/4/08 recur L chk Stag I surg 4/16/08 clr marg 215 HBO dives 3/09 teeth out, trismus 7/2/09 recur, Stg IV 8/24/09 trach, ND, mandiblctmy 3wks medicly inducd coma 2 mo xtended hospital stay, ICU & burn unit PICC line IV antibx 8 mo 10/4/10, 2/14/11 reconst surg OC 3x in 3 years very happy to be alive  | | | | | Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,671 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,671 | Wonderful progress, Michele!! Just goes to show that it pays to try anything and everything that looks good to you, - you never know what will pleasantly surprise you and go down easily! Here's a link that Christine posted a while back of easy foods to get down with several containing protein: http://oralcancersupport.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=94621#Post94621
Anne-Marie
CG to son, Paul (age 33, non-smoker) SCC Stage 2, Surgery 9/21/06, 1/6 tongue Rt.side removed, +48 lymph nodes neck. IMRTx28 completed 12/19/06. CT scan 7/8/10 Cancer-free! ("spot" on lung from scar tissue related to Pneumonia.)
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 71 Supporting Member (50+ posts) | | Supporting Member (50+ posts)
Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 71 | I have some protein powder that I will go back to use instead of chocolate milk soon (after my Ensure is gone)...gee, back about 7 months ago I was using it as DIET FOOD...who knew? LOL
I am happy with what I have lost and would eventually like to lose some more...but through exercise, not lack of eating. Now I am just trying to eat right and not go way back up! :o)
Michele in IL
Female - 53 no smoke/drink
tongue Biopsy 8/2010
Surgery 9/21 for SCC left side tongue stage II. Prtl removal tongue/left side lymph nodes. All Clear
Radiation started 11/2, ended 12/17
Lymph node involved left side along with gum involvement 2/9 Fibular flap failed 2/22.
passed away 1/12/12
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 10,507 Likes: 7 Administrator, Director of Patient Support Services Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Administrator, Director of Patient Support Services Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 10,507 Likes: 7 | Michele, right now you need to focus on getting enough nutrition to heal your battered body. Im glad you had some high protein powder on hand. Why not mix it into your choc milk? Its very important to maintain high protein/calorie balanced diet now to speed your recovery. It would be a great idea to begin using the high protein powder right away. To recover, it will take your body one month for every week of radiation.
Please watch your intake very carefully just like when you were going thru tx. Oral cancer is not the way to diet. I lost 65 pounds and that was with using a feeding tube. Most days I got between 2500 and 6000 calories. I drank alot of choc peanut butter milkshakes, they were very high in calories. Even with getting extra calories, I still was hospitalized twice for malnutrition and dehydration. Im now 3 1/2 yrs post my original cancer and still have not gained any weight back. Sure everyone is different but most of us have lost quite a few pounds without trying.
Keep up the good work with eating.
ChristineSCC 6/15/07 L chk & by L molar both Stag I, age44 2x cispltn-35 IMRT end 9/27/07 -65 lbs in 2 mo, no caregvr Clear PET 1/08 4/4/08 recur L chk Stag I surg 4/16/08 clr marg 215 HBO dives 3/09 teeth out, trismus 7/2/09 recur, Stg IV 8/24/09 trach, ND, mandiblctmy 3wks medicly inducd coma 2 mo xtended hospital stay, ICU & burn unit PICC line IV antibx 8 mo 10/4/10, 2/14/11 reconst surg OC 3x in 3 years very happy to be alive | | | | | Joined: Nov 2009 Posts: 493 Platinum Member (300+ posts) | | Platinum Member (300+ posts)
Joined: Nov 2009 Posts: 493 | So many of the people that I work with talk about diets constantly. I would be so glad if I could just eat normally again. I certainly don't want to be obese, but I really don't think that I would complain about a couple of extra pounds right now!
Female, nonsmoker, 70, diag. 5/09 after tongue biopsy: stage IV. Left hemi-gloss. and left selec. neck disec. 30 lymph nodes removed May 20. Over 7 weeks daily rads. with three chemo. PEG removed 12/4/09 Am eating mostly soft foods. Back to work 11/09 Retired 4/1/11. 7 clear scans! Port out 9/11. 2/13. It's back: base of tongue, very invasive
surgery involving lifestyle changes. 2/14: Now speaking w/Passey-Muir valve. Considering a swallow study. Grateful to be alive.
| | | | | Joined: May 2008 Posts: 551 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: May 2008 Posts: 551 | Michele,
I lost a quite a bit of weight during treatment and after 7-weeks of radiation and all the trouble I had with eating again (lack of taste, dry-mouth etc.) it was a full two years before I gained a single pound back. Recovery is NOT the time to think you should be losing weight or worrying about gaining it back. Your body has been put through hell and needs all the good nutrients you can give it to recover well and as quickly as possible.
- Margaret
Stage IV SCC lt lateral tongue, surgery 5/19/08 (partial gloss/upper neck dissection left side/radial free flap reconstruction) IMRT w/weekly Cisplatin & Erbitux 6/30/08, PEG 1 6/12/08 - out 7/14 (in abdominal wall, not stomach), PEG 2 7/23/08 - out 11/20/08, Tx done 8/18/08
Second SCC tumor, Stage 1, rt mobile tongue, removed 10/18/2016, right neck dissection 12/9/2016
Third SCC tumor, diagnosed, 4/19/2108, rt submandibular mass, HPV-, IMRT w/ weekly Cisplatin, 5/9 - 6/25/2018, PEG 3 5/31/2018
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2009 Posts: 147 Senior Member (100+ posts) | | Senior Member (100+ posts)
Joined: Mar 2009 Posts: 147 | As Christine said - watch for the malnutrition. I still struggle with that issue and I am 20 months out of treatment. Protein seems to be the thing that I fail to get enough of.
DX 2/10/09; Stage 1 SCC side of tongue; Partial Gloss; PEG in 3/3/09; 3 Cisplatin; 35 IMRT; PEG out 7/17/09; Eating via mouth and walking 3 miles/day 4 wks after treatment end. 50 pound weight loss; Clear PET 09/09 and 09/10
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 72 Supporting Member (50+ posts) | | Supporting Member (50+ posts)
Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 72 | Michele,
As Christine said - you really need to be careful to keep hydrated as well as well getting the nutrition. When it�s 7 degrees outside here in Illinois, there is no moisture in the air and it zaps the moisture out of you.
Have any of you tried Juven? Tim used it recently. His dietician recommended it. It�s made by Abbott and you can get it in a powder or in Ensure. His insurance bought two weeks worth of the powder and we bought two more (it�s $29 with shipping). Tim thought it was helpful in getting his energy back from his pneumonia and it may, or may not, have helped him gain the three pounds he put on last month. With chronic pneumonia, it�s hard to tell. If it really helps, $100 a month is not bad, but I�d like to know what others think.
Susan, CG to husband, diagnosed April 2010, age 56, non-smoker, no HPV
Mandibulectomy on left side May 2010 followed by 30 radiation, 3 cisplatin treatments.
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