As you read posts on our forum, you will notice I frequently discuss daily intake minimums. I cannot stress enough just how vitally important your intake is! Every single day from when first diagnosed right thru at the very least the first anniversary of finishing rads patients should take in a bare minimum of 2500 calories and 48-64 oz of water. I know it sounds like its alot especially for those already doing rads but its definitely NOT too much. Pay special attention to your weight as losing even a pound a week is discouraged. Losing weight is a huge red flag that the patient is not taking in enough calories. I talk about intake so much to try helping others avoid what tripped me up the most during rads. Its way too easy to skimp here and there thinking a few hundred calories isnt so much that tomorrow will be better. That quickly turns into a game of catch up where "tomorrow", the day intended to make up what was shorted the day before never comes as intake will continue to dwindle lower and lower daily amounts which makes you feel worse and worse. All cancer patients require higher calories than regular healthy people do. Their bodies are burning up calories at a much higher pace trying to fight the cancer and also rebuild itself. If that wasnt enough, OC patients have side effects that affecting their mouth and throat make eating and drinking painful, difficult and for some, almost impossible.
My memory is lousy and getting worse as I get older. Its unbelievable to me how Im able to retain so many details from my rad/chemo experiences from back in 2007. I'll never forget those horrendous weeks where I felt so awful, I started to think I must be dying. Nope!!! It was all from my struggling with my intake that caused severe malnutrition and dehydration , making me to feel so terrible, definitely something no one should ever experience! I went thru several hospitalizations for malnutrition and dehydration which was very traumatic being a single mother with 2 teenagers (15 and 17 years old) at home who needed me but I wasnt able to be there which I still beat myself up for. One of my worst days of my entire life was when I didnt have the strength to walk, my son struggled to get me into the car and drove me to the hospital where he used a wheelchair to take me into my oncologists office. The check in lady (without an appointment) sent us immediately into a treatment room, my doc came right in and in one look at me without examining me or even asking a single question, she admitted me on the spot. I would not wish that experience on my worst enemy!!! This is why I tend to nag OC patients about their intake so they can avoid going thru that kind of heck, it is preventable by adhering to the daily minimums of 2500 calories and 48-64 oz of water. For many OC patients, they require even more calories which isnt always easy to do. Taking in 3000, 4000 or more calories every single day still isnt too much. This high intake is similar to an athlete in training who requires 7000 or more calories a day to maintain themselves. Most treatment facilities have nutritionists patients should talk with on how they can get the most calories per swallow during rads and recovery.
As far as the dental trays... Im pretty sure this is the fluoride trays needed to help protect the teeth from rads. It really is something very important!!! Rads is very hard on the teeth. I ended up losing my teeth from rads even though I had and used the dental fluoride trays. Something like this should have been discussed right in the beginning so the patient has time to get an in depth dental exam, cleaning and any questionable teeth either filled or pulled with weeks to recover before any treatments start. Some areas of the main OCF site could be under construction as new info/findings are constantly being added and updated.
Ive included a link below to the main O CF pages where you may want to begin reading thru the Understanding and Treatment sections. You will find hours of reading about all kinds of things that are relevant to OC. Im pretty sure theres even a part in there about the treatment guidelines all US physicians and treatment centers must adhere to. Its a long flow chart with all kinds of scenarios given to create a patients treatment plan. Another important topic is why Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCC's) are so important, they have been scientifically proven to provide better survival results than smaller local hospitals who may not be up to date on all the latest things for OC. Its probably way too late to go back for a second opinion, especially since you are already doing rads. Anyone reading this who has not yet started being treated, if you havent yet been to a CCC, its a very good idea to try getting into one even if its just for a second opinion. It sure cant hurt to hear what the top cancer facilities in the US have to say about your case along with their team based approach so everyones on the same page.
Main OCF Site... UnderstandingNCI... CCC list
