Hello,

My mom is beginning week four of radiation and chemo. As expected, her lower lip has a chronic 3rd degree burn, and her mouth and throat are tender. She is only able to drink milkshakes and anything cool and thick, and I am infusing tube feeding through her peg to make up the difference in calories and fluid.

Has anyone tried juicing fruits and veggies as a form of nutritional support? I realize there are precautions one must take such as proper cleaning, produce should be organic, etc. I am also aware that certain fruits and veggies should be avoided.

In any case, has anyone done this?? (I figured since I can infuse fluids through her peg, perhaps juicing is an option.) Just desperate to maintain her nutritional status. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

With gratitude,
Traci

Traci, there are so many things to deal with when being a caregiver. Of course you want your mother to have the healthiest diet as possible. right now its all about the calories. Every single day she needs at the very minimum 2500 calories and 48-64 oz of water. If she can get more like 3500 calories and 64+ oz of water thats even better and can only help her to feel as good as possible while going thru these difficult radiation weeks.

Usually around week 4 or 5 is when most patients begin to struggle. This is another reason to focus on her intake as much as possible. You have control over what she takes in so make sure she makes the numbers I mentioned above.

Ive seen some patients consume a organic balanced liquid diet but not until several months after finishing rads. Its alot to handle and you never quite know if all her daily nutrients are being met or even if a food she is getting could interfere with the treatments. Plus as you mentioned there are all kinds of cautions about using the peg tube for homemade foods. Even when blending it thoroughly and flushing, there could be some issues with the tube breaking down. The PEG tube is designed to work with the liquid nutrition you can get either over the counter or by prescription from the doc. A medical supply company should be delivering the formula along with the other supplies every month.

To be honest, Ive seen thousands of patients pass thru this board and only a small handful have attempted what you asked about. In my opinion, I would wait until she has finished her treatments for at least a good 6 weeks before attempting the natural tube fed diet. That is unless you are working with a nutritionist or other medical professional who can guide you with maintaining enough calories and a balanced diet that wouldnt damage the feeding tube.

Please keep us posted on how this works out for you and your mother. best wishes with everything.



PS... Being a caregiver is a tough job! Dont forget to make some time just for you too.

Traci, I would like to add to what Christine is saying. Juicing is a great thing to do as far as nutrition. Some things to consider, in my opinion.

1. Raw veggies/fruits need special care during immune compromised times. Learn the nadir period of the chemo cycle as well. Extra washing of the raw veggies/fruits is a must during this time.

2. Juicing is a great thing to do but the calories typically aren't there and the concentration of some detox items might cause extra issues during chemo and rads.

3. If you juice regularly, you may have some knowledge. If not, it may require a lot of extra time consuming work and take away from the important role of caregiver.

I'm with Christine in waiting till after treatment. I even attempted to follow the Gerson therapy, not to "cure" cancer but for maximum nutrition. It was too much to take on.

Best wishes for some smooth sailing.

Both of you bring up excellent points. I appreciate it. It's a huge relief to have this type of forum available for information sharing. Makes the journey a little less scary.

RN77 - I don't know if this would help with the tenderness in the lip, mouth and throat, but Manuka Honey has been mentioned quite a bit on this forum for its healing properties- definitely check it out with the doctors to make sure it does not interfere with anything else already prescribed. For more info, just type in Manuka Honey in the search box, upper right, top of this page.

Hi,

Just repeating some other thoughts. Weight loss is a major issue so stick with basic "meat and potatoes" ingredients. Fat, protein, carbohydrates. Caloric density is higher with fats and proteins so things like peanut butter, whole milk, protein powders, etc. certainly provide more to keep weight up rather than vegetables.

With a high quality blender like the Vitamix, just about anything can be blended to work with a PEG. So at least all pure and natural ingredients can be used.

Good luck

I supplemented my diet with juice, both as a way to add more variety of nutrients and because frankly, I was getting kindof sick of all of the Boost/Ensure and milkshakes I had to eat. Lots of things you can add to milkshakes to make them more interesting and give a greater variety, but I was craving things that were NOT high in fat and dairy. That being said, as you have heard above, there are not many calories in a juice.

Every couple of days for awhile I had a juice of some sort. Generally speaking, I'd add kale, celery, cucumber, carrots and either an apple or a pear. I'd vary it with beets, ginger, lemon, or substitute spinach for the kale. It's somewhat of a pain in the butt to have to wash and cut up all those fruits and veggies. To make the washing process somewhat easier, I'd mix up some water and some vinegar in a large bowl and wash a few days worth of veggies at once.

Now that I can eat solid food again, I juice less often, but still use it as a way to add some extra vegetables into my diet whenever I feel I haven't been getting enough lately.