Finishing 3 weesks from completition of 7 weeks Rad and 6 weeks of Chemo (once/week) for base of tongue that has moved to a node on the upper right side.
I got through treatment ok and had most of the issues discussed in this forum. I kind of feel that I am out there now still fighting with no real signs thats things are getting better!
When can I try food again, what are the types of foods or drinks that you have found more tolerable and what kind of time line has the group seen before I start to feel normal again.
I know these are tough questions and everybody will differ but just sharing your stories and issues would be very helpfull. Just to have these benchmarks that could indicatate to me that I am making progress would be great. Thanks

Len,

Congrats on finishing treatment. As you have read on here - now is a really tough time. Especially the 3-4 weeks after. You continue to feel worse. That is the build of the radiation and chemo.

One rule of thumb I was always told on this site is 1 month of recovery for every week of treatment. Although each of of is different and our body handles the side effects differently.

Another reality is that you won't notice some of the improvement - it is so gradual that we as patients don't notice till down the road - and low and behold you're eating something you couldn't eat just a few weeks before.

I first ate things with lots of gravies...mashed potatoes and creamed soups. Chicken cut very small with gravy on it. Almost all things at first needed to be washed down with water. Even strawberry shortcake worked for me a couuple of months out as long as I had a lot of whipped cream and ice cream (aww!!!)

I still try things all the time (2 years out from radiation)since my tastes and saliva are an ever changing thing. I have also found some days are better than others. And to watch what cold medicines I might think of taking. (talk about drying you out)

I'm sure other people will post what worked for them and any or all of it might work for you.

Good luck.
Dinah

Congradulations Len,

The hardest part I think is now. Each of us is different but when going through treatment you are acting in a positive mode. (fighting the cancer)
You should rest as much as possible. Take alot of naps and give your body time to heal. When thinking of improvements think in terms of weeks not days. It is a very slow process. I am 8 weeks post rad and still using the PEG tube to eat. I have a restricted mouth opening but I am working on expanding the opening.
Did you have IMRT radiation or field radiation?
Did you have any surgery?
You should start out eating alot of soft wet foods. It depends what your mouth will tolorate.
They say your taste will return but it may take several weeks or months.

This is all for now Len, Good luck in the playoffs. Did you like the way the Packers got in? I sure did!!!

Your Friend, Dan

Hi, Dan what are you doing for your restricted mouth opening. I am suppose to get a mouth streacher from a burn center in Texas.It will be shaped like an old fashioned saddle and I will control when I want to expand it. They feel that it has been very successful with burn cases that it could work for Cancer patients.I have a very small mouth opening because I lost a lot of tissue in tumor removal and failed flap.

Hi Len, I can only refer to Mike's progress, knowing that everyone is different while still similar in some ways.

Before his surgery/rads his ENT told us it would be a year before he truly felt himself again. We both poo-poo'd that. Mike felt sure 3 months and I was thinking more like 6. Guess what, it truly was a year before he felt close to 100%.

As to foods, once he tried, he found he could eat more than he thought he could. Unfortunately for him, the variety has decreased over the last 2 years - partly due to the scarring in his esophagus from the rads and partly due to a wide variety of things (a food that is fine one time, won't work the next).

That said, some of the first things he could eat and enjoy were soups, pasta with lots of sauce (although not spicy since that did and still does somewhat burn), a variety of soft foods with gravy. Hot dogs were probably the first food, shrimp as well (but that's not something he likes a lot of). Oatmeal, eggs, dry cereal, yogurt, pudding, ice cream all work for him now. He often breaks his bacon on patty sausage up and mixes them in with his poached eggs &/or his grits.

Chocolate was the last taste to go and the last to return. Many foods he disliked before or was "bland" over, he now likes. Other foods he loved he either can't tolerate or now dislikes the taste. He puts enough sugar on his cereal/oatmeal to make a diabetic keel over <g>.

Hope this helps a little bit....