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Joined: Dec 2010
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"OCF Canuck"
Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
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"OCF Canuck"
Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)

Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 5,260
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Chips anyone? (just joking... ) and yup - Tammy is right. It's all about moderation and knowing what you are eating and drinking. hugs


Cheryl : Irritation - 2004 BX: 6/2008 : Inflam. BX: 12/10, DX: 12/10 : SCC - LS tongue well dif. T2N1M0. 2/11 hemigloss + recon. : PND - 40 nodes - 39 clear. 3/11 - 5/11 IMRT 33 + cis x2, PEG 3/28/11 - 5/19/11 3 head, 2 chest scans - clear(fingers crossed) HPV-, No smoke, drink, or drugs, Vegan
Joined: Nov 2013
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Posts: 9
Hi All...

Xantippi here and I totally agree with the responses that say try to get as much weight ON as y0u possibly can right now.

Also let me say congratulations for coming this far. Glad you are able to eat... right now.

I too did great right after surgery... pretty radical surgery too, my doctors were very impressed with my recovery. Then I had radiation therapy.... and OMG... I was totally not ready for such extreme reactions to the radiation.

I had lost weight after the surgery but then I lost lots of weight as a result of the radiation therapy.

Everyone is different, to be sure. And no one can tell you exactly how you will react to the radiation, but for right now... do not worry about what you eat as much as just EAT. Put some weight on... and once you get to where I am now... many months past radiation and then I had another type of cancer in my lung found in the middle of my radiation treatments... again OMG! (right?)... but all done with all of it now.

And NOW I do have to watch what I eat... I pick my foods carefully, I eat a lot of broiled salmon and lots of greens. I juice carrots every day... brown rice, once one of my all time fav foods is one of the only foods I can no longer swallow. Swallowing rice is like trying to swallow sticky pebbles... no lie. They just don't want to go down and when I force them down with water... I cough and cough... and they almost hurt to swallow. so no rice but I do eat whole grain breads with lots of nuts and grains. I eat ground flax seed on my oatmeal every morning... about a table spoon full.

So again... don't worry too much right now about what you eat. Just eat as much as you can now... and good luck to you for your struggle from this point forward.

My thoughts will be with you.


Xantippi... 64 year old Resident Manager for small apartment community in SF East Bay area, Northern CA

03/2013 Adenoid cystic carcinoma (partial throat, salivary glands and tongue removed and rebuilt)

10/2013 Large cell carcinoma found in top chamber of right lung successfully surgically removed

01/2014 Cancer Free...Doing well, able to eat enough to begin gaining back the 70 #'s lost in less than 8 mo
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 42
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Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 42
While I have only had to deal with surgery - On top of your normal ensure/nutrition shakes, I would suggest adding some homemade protein shakes using a high quality protein powder and blending in healthy foods like greens, fruits, soy milk etc. It helps keep your calories and protein up and lets you get the nutrients from foods you wouldn't be able to eat whole right now. I also made soups with healthy vegetables and then blended them until they were smooth. I think it is realistic to at least have half of your daily intake coming from these. Every little bit helps!


Female, Age 38, healthy non-smoker, rarely drank, regularly workout
May 2014 noticed irritation on tongue
6/18 saw doctor
6/25 saw ENT specialist got biopsy
6/30 Dx HPV P16+ ve SCC tongue cancer
7/9 CT scans, no visible spread
8/20 partial glossectomy with radial forearm flap, neck dissection 26 nodes sampled - results T2 N0 with mild dysplasia
4/2015 start to have ear pain
5/2015 recurrence
6/4/2015 surgery 29 nodes samples pN 2c
7/13/2015 7 wks of Chemo & Radiation start

Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 87
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Joined: Sep 2014
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Older post but there is certainly still some good information in here.

I also found it a bit strange that so many of the foods that I was encouraged to eat at the hospital when first getting out, and in the initial stages of recovery, was quite heavy in fat and sugar. I had to find a way to pile on the calories, so I'd eat a big honkin' milkshake every day. Lots of ice cream, then I'd add whatever I want to it. Sometimes just cocoa powder, sometimes fruit, sometimes peanut butter or coconut milk. But I'd always add a scoop of whey protein powder.

Soups are pretty easy to eat too, but so many of them are so high in sodium. Thankfully I had a teammate on my dragonboat team that used to be a chef, so when I first got home from my surgery, he had made batches of four different soups, and put them into some freezable containers. It was a very nice thing for someone to do.

One thing I did find useful was to make my own juice. I had bought a masticating juicer even before my diagnosis, in an attempt to find a way to increase my vegetable intake. It's sometimes tough to eat enough vegetables the regular "old fashioned" way. I found that having a nice green juice every second day or so helped me feel better. Something with some kale, cucumber, celery, an apple, etc. Sometimes I'd add some carrot, beet, lemon or ginger to switch it up a bit, or trade out pear for the apple.


Dx 2014Jan29 (42 yr old otherwise fit nonsmoker)
SCC tongue stage III T3N0M0
subtotal glossectomy, partial neck dissection, RFFF, trach, NG tube 2014Feb25 16 days in hospital
RAD 25 zaps 2014May5-2014Jun9
Back to work, paddling & hiking shortly afterwards
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