So, I took charge and tried won ton soup the other night now that I am 5 weeks post treatment and actually got 3 fairly large dumplings down with broth without choking to death. It was very foreign and I struggled with chewing a bit but got it down. It just felt dry and slow but it went down, I took a break since that day and continued on with ol' PEG like normal while considering other options. I am so damn ready to start eating so I can get this tube removed. I noticed this morning some white patches on parts of my tongue but havent had thrush since middle of treatment. I still clean my mouth daily with salt/baking soda and also brush my teeth, maybe the won ton scorched me? Well, I hope it is not thrush returning, Korinne says my breath does not stink like thrush so maybe it is just some sort of healing process. But anyways, I just wanna get motivated to find foods to eat, I have my appetite back because I get the stomache rumbles every few hours....

Your Friend,
Nathan

Yep, I am way past ready too. I want toast with cinnamon and sugar, garlic toast, pizza, tacos...I think anything with TASTE and flavor!

Good on you getting the won ton soup down! I keep getting blisters after I eat. Don't quite get what causes them.

Keep at it...and keep an eye on that white patch!

Michele in IL

Nathan,

That's a great step, but don't stop now! I remember eating a lot of soup when I got back to eating. Soups and other wet foods like slightly overcooked pasta, although my greatest achievement was a slice of pizza and a couple of days later, a bowl of clam chowder. Most of us seem to have the experience of the first couple of bites tasting good but after that, nothing.

Thrush may be an ongoing problem for you, I went through two bouts of it over the summer, so do keep an eye on those white spots because you never know.

Keep at it, you too Michele, because it will happen. Slowly, but it will happen!

- Margaret

Great job Nate!!! Thats what it takes, practice and alot of trial and error. Wonton soup was one of my favorites when I first finished rads. I would go to my local chinese restaurant and order a large bowl and sit there for what seemed like forever eating and eating. I was so proud of myself, I would go everyday. Best of luck with yoru continued recovery.

Hi, Nate,

You sound great! I am impressed that you are motivated to try different foods. That is awesome! Keep at it. I remember that my husband would have the urge for something specific and I would cook it for him. Then after a few bites he lost interest. But the desire to try something was a huge breakthrough.

All my best-
Anita

Wonderful!! Ron has thrush, which I called his doc and told them he is bout out of the nystatin and the thrush is still there, and asked bout Difulcan. Waiting to see what they say BUT he is going nuts cuz he has his appetite back and wants to eat everything but has no clue exactly what! he was going thru my canned foods, my freezer, my fridge and all food cupboards looking for something, he is going nuts for Stouffers Mac and Cheese so he is going to get some today. It's slimier than other mac and cheeses lotta sauce so maybe try that Nate. Ron said if he can get them noodles down it's ON he says. I'm gonna have to ask him bout some Won Ton soup. He still can't get those chunks of potatoes down in Clam Chowder, but he ate half a can of creamed corn. And canned spinich is easy peasy to slide down too if you like it. We eat it warm with butter but he was brought up with putting in a bowl after draining as much liquid as you can out and putting in vinegar, ya vinegar and letting it sit in fridge for a bit. So if you like sour...there ya go! lol
just a couple suggestions. Keep on eating that PEG will be out of you in no time!

Hi Nate and Suez, I don't know if you have any Trader Joes stores near you but when John was having difficulty eating he was able to eat and enjoy their beef barley soup. It comes in a cardboard container and is one of those ready to eat soups. Good luck, I think you are doing great for being so soon out of treatments. John had no appetite and zero interest in eating for months. He used to say it was a chore and something he did because he knew he had to.

oh ya i fought a lot with Ron earlier, not understanding the pain he had with his throat and why he couldn't get food down. but now he says the swelling is down and he is starving! Oh Slim ron's really been eating a lot of varieties of foods. He has all kinds of soups, favorite is my son's homemade clam chowder, just the potatoes must be very very small, last night he had campbells cream of broccoli/cheese he said he had a full belly after he ate the whole can himself! today he is buying stouffer's mac and cheese frozen dinner. he has ate chili, baked potatoes, lotsa oatmeal, all kinds of creamed soups, loves loves small curd cottage cheese and he eats 1 big container in 1 day! yogurts and mc donalds milk shakes he mixes half of one of those with his canned formula he used to use for his feeding tube so he gets more calories, his face isn't as sunken in anymore, now to see if he can get his belly back and some meat on them rib bones of his! also today doc gave him a script for difulcan for his thrush once that is gone he will get one of his favorite meals and try it. OnCor salisbury steak and gravy, mashed potatoes and creamed corn! ya lotta people say ewww to oncor but i am the queen when i make that! lol and i really make more gourmet meals this one is so easy and he always tells me he is easy i don't need to cook like it's a resteraunt! but that's how i've always cooked.

I lived on a fish spread my husband makes for the first three months post treatment. The grilled fish and mayo combo was moist and easy to swallow without being slimey.

Good for you Nathan!

I know its challenging relearning to eat but every step forward is really rewarding. Wishing you lots of culinary successes!!!!

KATE

I eat chili-lime chicken wings from the microwave, so they don't dry out - Gordon foods makes them, as does Tyson. Also, my local coffee shop sometimes carries a wonderful butternut squash bisque. It is slightly sweet with cinnamon and other spices, and I can actually taste it. i have tried that soup from the grocery store, and it just isn't the same.

I was very surprised to find a very odd thing that goes down well...lettuce salad! I was told NOT to eat lettuce after surgery so I didn't for quite a while. I ate some before radiation started...but not since then. Hubby had a salad last night and it looked SO good...I took a piece of lettuce and it chewed up and slid down...especially with dressing! :o) So...I had one for lunch today! I have eaten all 3 meals today...cooked veggies, salad and part of a baked potato and soggy breakfast cereal.

The salad certainly amazed me that I can do that tho!

Michele in IL

Congrats on doing so well eating, Michele. Make sure you are getting enough protein, that is what heals you. I have learned this the hard way. Try some high protein powder. It mixes easily with most liquids including milk or juice. Hope you continue to make such excellent progress.

Wonderful progress, Michele!! Just goes to show that it pays to try anything and everything that looks good to you, - you never know what will pleasantly surprise you and go down easily! Here's a link that Christine posted a while back of easy foods to get down with several containing protein:

http://oralcancersupport.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=94621#Post94621

I have some protein powder that I will go back to use instead of chocolate milk soon (after my Ensure is gone)...gee, back about 7 months ago I was using it as DIET FOOD...who knew? LOL

I am happy with what I have lost and would eventually like to lose some more...but through exercise, not lack of eating. Now I am just trying to eat right and not go way back up! :o)

Michele in IL

Michele, right now you need to focus on getting enough nutrition to heal your battered body. Im glad you had some high protein powder on hand. Why not mix it into your choc milk? Its very important to maintain high protein/calorie balanced diet now to speed your recovery. It would be a great idea to begin using the high protein powder right away. To recover, it will take your body one month for every week of radiation.

Please watch your intake very carefully just like when you were going thru tx. Oral cancer is not the way to diet. I lost 65 pounds and that was with using a feeding tube. Most days I got between 2500 and 6000 calories. I drank alot of choc peanut butter milkshakes, they were very high in calories. Even with getting extra calories, I still was hospitalized twice for malnutrition and dehydration. Im now 3 1/2 yrs post my original cancer and still have not gained any weight back. Sure everyone is different but most of us have lost quite a few pounds without trying.

Keep up the good work with eating.

So many of the people that I work with talk about diets constantly. I would be so glad if I could just eat normally again. I certainly don't want to be obese, but I really don't think that I would complain about a couple of extra pounds right now!

Michele,

I lost a quite a bit of weight during treatment and after 7-weeks of radiation and all the trouble I had with eating again (lack of taste, dry-mouth etc.) it was a full two years before I gained a single pound back. Recovery is NOT the time to think you should be losing weight or worrying about gaining it back. Your body has been put through hell and needs all the good nutrients you can give it to recover well and as quickly as possible.

- Margaret

As Christine said - watch for the malnutrition. I still struggle with that issue and I am 20 months out of treatment. Protein seems to be the thing that I fail to get enough of.

Michele,

As Christine said - you really need to be careful to keep hydrated as well as well getting the nutrition. When it�s 7 degrees outside here in Illinois, there is no moisture in the air and it zaps the moisture out of you.

Have any of you tried Juven? Tim used it recently. His dietician recommended it. It�s made by Abbott and you can get it in a powder or in Ensure. His insurance bought two weeks worth of the powder and we bought two more (it�s $29 with shipping). Tim thought it was helpful in getting his energy back from his pneumonia and it may, or may not, have helped him gain the three pounds he put on last month. With chronic pneumonia, it�s hard to tell. If it really helps, $100 a month is not bad, but I�d like to know what others think.

Sorry to have worried everyone...I am eating as I need to...and if I have a day (like today) that I didn't eat as well, then I go back to Ensure (and when it is gone the protein powder). I am not really trying to lose weight at this point...just trying to keep intake normal so I don't go back to the over-sized portions I was eating before.

I bought a few frozen dinners for lunch with shrimp and chicken with gravy type stuff, hoping I can eat those as well. With not much taste and having a slow time eating I still hate to cook for myself, then I find out I can't eat it so have been trying to pick things that are easy or a pretty "sure thing".

Don't worry, my neighbor is a retired nurse...she won't let me get by with anything! I have been drinking and eating...just slow trying new things. Yesterday was fine, tonight didn't go so well - mouth got sore and had the water blisters I get so I quit, brushed and rinsed, then drank an Ensure! :o)

I do appreciate the reminder in these and the earlier messages about the protein. I have been careful to get that in the ensure but forgot once I was eating. I was just trying to get FOOD! :o)

Michele in IL

Hi Nathan: Another hero! I am just starting this journey. New to cancer; new to this forum. The doctors anticipate that I will start radiation/chemo on Jan. 31. I had my tonsils and wisdom tooth out last week. I can't believe they are telling me that the pain from having my tonsils out is nothing compared to what's ahead. I'll be checking in to see how you're doing. Keep up the good work. I hope I can be as strong as you. -Michelle

Congrats Nate. You are an inspiration. I am only 2 weeks post treatment. It is great to hear how it is going for you. I lie in bed dreaming of all my favorite foods. Still using the PEG but soon... I will try some broth. Keep up the good work. And to you... lots of healing thoughts from me. -Michelle

I tortured myself by watching all of the Food Network shows when I was going through treatments.

I grabbed a 16 pack of protein shakes at Costco yesterday - 30 grams of protein... I throw in a scoop of protein powder, 23 more grams... 350 calories - plus fruit, maybe 400 calories... Makes a good breakfast... And gets me 2/3 of my protein requirement for the day. Tomorrow is the end of week 3 - radiation... A few sores in my mouth... A nasty one on my tongue - but for the most part I'm doing okay... though eating really sucks right now.

Well done! I will have to try wanton soup too, I'm having rads and chemo next week:( I am finding food a problem as I can't smell or taste it! And when I fancy something it tastes off and I can't eat it. Reading the posts here at least most people seem to be able to taste again sooner or later?
Jayne x

It's such a pain in the ass to eat, I'm with ya. I LOVE food, I LOVE to cook...but I fn hate eating anymore. It bums me out when I try because I loved eating so much and its so fricken hard to eat now. All those years of starving as a wrestler I have a special appreciation for good tasting food...I think that's why my wife owns a restaurant and is an amazing cook. Talk about torture.

Now the lions share of my calories are from ensure and protein blends...a lot of them trying to gain and maintain muscle. It's so hard to keep weight on and there's no possible way to maintain my weight through solids, I literally can't eat that much. So frustrating trying to gain weight back.

I hear you - Im still pretty early in the game recovery wise and my taste is coming back but I'm impatient! Food is an ordeal sometimes it's just easier to chug an ensure and boost. I had lentil and split pea soup last night and finished a whole bowl (it actually tasted good!) but it had me running to the bathroom all night - I guess there is such a thing as too much of a good thing - I have to remember smaller more frequent amounts - my body isn't used to a lot of foods at this point! I miss food since eating out was something we do for pleasure - ugh!!!

Jayne sadly the lack of taste can be a big turn off - but it should come back!! Hugs!