Hi, I am new to this forum. I was referred to this website after receiving a comment from a wonderful survivor on the blog I am writing for my dad as he goes through his long journey with cancer. He has cancer of his paroitid gland which was removed in a neck dissection surgery on Oct 5, 2007 along with 22 lymph nodes (2 of which were cancerous) and his facial nerve. He came through surgery great and now is half way through his 7 weeks of radiation. He is struggling with eating and we are all not sure what to do with him now... it seems we are all annoying him by telling him to "EAT, EAT, EAT!!!" Any advice for us would be appreciated. Take a look at my blog for more info (www.geneakapops.blogspot.com). I am so happy to have found this site! I know my dad will love the support too! Thanks in advance.

My mom was the same way she would get really angry with the constant badgering. That is untill we found she had a serious sweet tooth for Kozy Shack rice pudding. I am serious we would walk in to a store and buy four cases just to last the week. Sometimes the best thing you can do is play a little tial and error untill you find something. It took us awhile to find the right thing but when we did that is all she ate for the longest time. Don't worry you'll figure it out:)
Warmest Regards Dragon

My dad did not get the feeding tube and he knew it was mandatory that he eat and continue swallowing. Sure, he didn't like being told to eat all day but he knew that if he didn't the feeding tube wouldn't be an option anymore.

While your efforts may seem to annoy him I'm sure he knows that you are just looking out for him.

Best of luck.

Joy

My son did not get the PEG tube either and his tastes changed almost every day. I found out that when starting something new it was best not to buy too much of it because his taste for something he used to tolerate or like the day before could change drastically. He did get upset when I tried to urge him to eat and informed me in his "you just don't understand" voice that anything he tried to swallow felt like sharp knives stabbing him in his throat. For a while, he liked the creamy rice pudding, then yogurt, and he went from liking chocolate milk shakes to hating them and then strawberry milk and vanilla shakes to no shakes at all. He ate softly scrambled eggs for a while and lots of chicken broth and eventually ate some of the noodles in the broth, too! It's as Dragon says, you just have to do the trial and error thing. It was very difficult to know when to be firm and when to be soft with him. And sometimes all you can do, is give him a gentle (very gentle because his surgery area may be tender) hug or pat on the hand to let him know you love him. Stay in touch with us and let us know what's happening.

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions... I will help him try all kinds of things and see what he may like one day at a time! I told him that I asked you guys for some help with this food issue and he laughed! He said his Dr told him that if he didn't find some foods that he liked he would be put on a feeding tube (which he doesn't want to get). He lost 9 pounds last week, so he needs to see what he can eat. Thanks again! You can see our cancer journal/blog here www.geneakapops.blogspot.com

You might try Carnation VHC which has 560 calories and if you cannot find it locally, it can be ordered online.

Hi-
Towards the end of radiation I finally met with the nutritionist(should have done it earlier!) and she gave me a bunch of free samples of high calorie foods. One of them was amazing, it's called Benecalorie at it has 330 calories in a few tablespoons. The taste/texture is gross, and its expensive but it can really help add calories. I did not have a PEG tube, but I lived on Ensure and Carnation VHC.
You can buy Benecalorie through amazon.

Melissa

And if you buy it from Amazon, please do it from the OCF link.