Hi. My name is Natalie. My grandmother of 89yrs was diagnosed in May with Squamous Cell Oral Carcinoma. She has started a 4 week course of Radiation in the hope of slowing the progress of this cancer. I'm interested to hear from others who have undergone similar radiation, and what your experience and side effects were like, as well as what the success rate was.

I'm also looking for recipe ideas for optimal nutrition for her during this time. She has lost all her teeth to the cancer, cannot wear her dentures anymore, limiting her ability to eat .... along with the pain she feels when she eats.

Welcome to OCF, Natalie. You have found the very best place to get info and support for your grandmother.

There are many posts discussing radiation, side effects and recovery after rads. To better help your grandmother, I suggest you read thru the posts here and also read things from the main OCF site. The link to the OCF Main pages is in the top right corner. Im including a link here as well.

Intake is the most important thing you can help your grandmother with during and after rads. Every single day she should be taking in at least 2500 calories and 48-64oz of water. If she can take more in that will help make it easier for her, even 3500 calories daily is not too much right now. During rads, the sense of taste goes thru major changes. It gets progressively more difficult to eat and swallow. The taste of food changes so much it eventually turns even the most appetizing things into cardboard. Many patients get painful mouth sores which makes eating next to impossible. But thats with patients undergoing 30-35 days of rads. Im assuming with your grandmother getting 4 weeks of rads its only 20 treatments which should make it so things dont get as hard on her.

Your grandmother needs to take sips of water every single day (even if it tastes bad and hurts)to keep her swallowing muscles actively working. If she is struggling with water intake, ask his doc to write a prescription to get extra hydration a few times a week. At least this option is available here in the US, other countries it may be different. Getting hydrated will help her to magically feel better right after she gets a couple bags of fluids.

Without teeth eating is already a challenge for your grandmother. During rads, this will get even more difficult for her. By focusing on her daily intake, the link below should help with what foods may be easier for her to eat. Here in the US, there are nutritional drinks available at most pharmacies, grocery or department stores. The brands we see here are Ensure, Boost or store brands. I dont know if this is an option where you are. But if so, it will help your grandmother to get enough daily calories. When cooking, avoid spices (even salt), anything that takes too long to chew and things that are thick like peanut butter. If she wants peanut butter try putting it in milkshakes to add calories and protein. The following list should help you to find things your grandmother can eat like canned peaches (these are the easiest, they slide right down) or cream soups. I also enjoyed yoo-hoo and chocolate milk during rads and recovery plus the extra calories helped.


List of Easy to Eat Foods


Your grandmother's physician can prescriptions to help manage her pain. Its not at all helpful to the patient to be in pain, it only makes everything much more difficult for them. There are many strong prescription pain medications that come in liquid form with could be helpful to your grandmother if she has any issues with swallowing, ask her doctor. Here, we have something called Magic Mouthwash (MM) which is a compound made of lydocaine, maylox and benedryl. There are some variations of the MM, some patients have had theirs include nystatin (works on thrush) too. This rinse your grandmother could swish around in her mouth for about 20-30 seconds then spit it out. It will numb her mouth long enough for her to be able to eat without so much pain.

PS....
Here is a recipe for something I used to make and drink when I went thru treatments. The shake has anywhere from 1200-2000 calories depending on how you make it. The list of foods might help too, they mostly have a smoother texture and arent spicy which should be easier to tolerate.


(All measurements are estimates)

Giant High Calorie Choc-Peanut Butter Milkshake

3 or 4 cups chocolate ice cream (regular/full fat type)
2 tablespoons peanut butter (smooth type)
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
1 or 2 cups whole milk (can substitute half and half to add even more calories)
1 scoop carnation instant breakfast
1 scoop high protein whey powder (check with doc if this is ok)

Blend this extra long to make it very smooth and creamy so it goes down easier. If the shake is too thick, add more milk to thin it down to what works best for you.


Best wishes with everything!!!

OCF Main --- Treatments