Next question of the day from my husband. His radiation ended 12/5/06. He is eating better, even gained a few pounds. His main stay foods include eggs, blueberry pancakes (no syrup), fried potatoes, pork sausage. He has had a steak - two actually last weekend, crab legs on New Years Eve, and shrimp fairly often. He even had some pecans and got them down. He says he really can

Barbara, It sounds like he is doing great!! There are lots of people who would love to be able to eat what he is eating. The "sugar thing" is a taste bud reaction to radiation and will probably go away. But sugar is not a diet mainstay anyway. Good for him for doing so well at this point. Amy

Barbara,

I agree with Amy -- it sounds like your husband is doing very well with food, given the fact that he's only a month after the end of radiation. I was nowhere near being able to eat those kinds of foods at that point. For many people, the taste buds for sweet stuff take awhile to come back, but they should return before too long.

Cathy

Thank you. The doctor and nurse both indicated he is doing great also. Unfortunately, he is one of those impatient formerly very active people who is more than ready to be "all well" by now. I was always the nap taker and he doesn't want to take naps since he thinks it will interfere further with his sleep at night. I think being used to being so active and the taste thing are the hardest things for him.

I guess he thought there was something special about sweet taste that made it so awful. Thanks again.

Barbara,

I was able to eat like your H after a month and also didn't taste much. My taste has almost completely returned and I really never had a problem with sweets EXCEPT chocolate which still tastes bitter. I also drank choc ensure but gave it up for vanilla Carnation VHC. I was never a sweets eater so it's not a bigger for me.

Barbara,
I finished treatment in May 2006 (radiation/chemo) and I still have taste issues, especially with sweets. I hear it's different with everybody but I think the deal with sweets is pretty common. They still taste horrible to me - I would even say no better now than when I first started eating again after treatment. For me it's probably best as I don't need them anyhow - the only downside is that a lot of fruit doesn't taste good any more either because of its sweetness.
Best of luck in your husband's recovery....
-Steve

So after my post of yesterday, Michael took himself out to lunch today and had some strawberry cake. He still didn't like the frosting, but I gather the cake part went down pretty well so who knows. His chocolate Boost is also now "tasting" sweeter to him than it did, but he is still drinking it to supplement his food consumption.

He also had two serving of salted green beans at lunch today which tasted decent after he thought he didn

Barbara,

I can certainly relate to your husband's situation. I finished Tx in mid-July and the taste buds are still a mess. Tolerance for anything sweet was the first sensation I lost during early Tx and I still cannot tolerate. I am also currently sensing certain sweet tastes with foods that shouldn't taste sweet. The best example is corn on the cob. Covered with butter and salt it tastes to me as though it has a tablespoon of sugar sprinkled on it. I'm told it's my taste buds focusing on the high sugar content in corn and other foods. Another example is bread/grain products which all taste like they are full of sugar. The odd thing however is how I can eat some things with sugar that taste okay. Best example is that I have settled at this point for real oatmeal every morning as a tolerable breakfast. I put brown sugar on it along with butter and it tastes great without being overly sweet tasting.

One thing for sure, none of my 3 docs will make any guarantees regarding my taste buds. It's fun to watch them squirm and wiggle when I ask as they do not like that question. My rad doc did tell me earlier that "on average" it takes 2 to 10 months out of Tx to get taste back although in some cases full taste may never return. They all stress that every patient is different and that there is no blanket answer.

I also was impatient following Tx and saw no reason not to be "all better again" about a month following Tx, especially after removal of the PEG tube. I was never a nap taker but have been hit with reality now. I found that around 2 PM every afternoon I suddenly felt like I had been run over by a truck and had to have at least a 30 minute nap. This gradually let up as more time passed but even now there are afternoons where if I'm at home at mid-afternoon I might have to sneak in a nap.

I can say that since Dx last April I have come to appreciate a minimum of 2 new experiences in life. There is life without smoking after all and I can slow down to sniff those roses that everyone has been talking about for so many years.

Bill Dozier