JC & Robin,

No personal experience here, but I believe any area that is radiated does not grow hair again. I believe some of the men have mentioned never having to shave again.

Heather found that she could tolerate Nutren, which is made by Nestle, better than Ensure. Also, they just ordered Jevity for her while she is in the hospital because it is less likely to contribute to any mucous problems. As to taste, I can't vouch for either one, but going in a PEG, taste isn't an issue.

Good luck,
Rosie

Regarding the shaving part. Area of the heaviest concentration of radiation, still yet to have hair grow back. Mustache came back after a while. However, since my beard and mustache were mostly grey, shaving them off took about 10 years off my looks.

Buy an electric razor though, the whole left side of my face is numb, and I don't think it's a good idea to try and shave with a blade with a numb face. Could cut half your face off and not feel it.

Radiated hair follicles usually die. But he may take heart in this... for most oral cancers the primary fields are left and right, with only minor radiation exposure to the front. For me what that meant to my very full beard pre treatment, was that everything but a perfectly formed goatee fell out after about a month of treatment. He doesn

okay - since he is having IMRT done, they told him that he needs to shave prior to having the mask made so they could get a good tight fit when making the mask. the area of concetration will be the neck from my understanding, but i could be wrong (it wouldnt be the first time!!) so i guess it is off to the store to buy an electric razor - altho, i will be taking the beard off initially, it sounds like he can maintain it with the electric razor after that. remember, this is a man who hasnt shaved in 32 years. i did shave his neck and "french braid" his beard across his chin for the surgery and we were able to save it then. for him it's like a comfortable pair of shoes that you dont want to get rid of......

I hated Ensure and Boost Plus also. I got by with Carnation Instant Breakfast in milk, about 360 calories. The cappuccino flavor I can actually taste. One good sized milkshake will give you close to 2,000 calories. Some people swear by Costco Cheesecake.

Just remember everyone, while calories are important each day, EMPTY calories do not give your body the nutrients to rebuild. Non nutritional calories may enable someone to reduce their weight loss, but if ( as in eating a whole cheesecake) those calories do not contain the proteins and amino acids, vitamins and minerals for your body to use to rebuild the damage being done, it will try to find them elsewhere. This means that it will break down your muscle tissues to get what it needs. There is a great deal of difference between wieght in the form of muscle, and weight in the form of adipose tissue....

Yes, Brian, but cheesecake, particularly Harry & David Boysenberry cheesecake, is SO much better than Ensure (grin).

JC is not a "sweet" eater - i made him a peanut butter milk shake yesterday (a favorite of my biological fathers) and he wasnt happy - he drank it mind you, but said it was too sweet. so we are now going with potatoes, pastas, and such. i did ask him about the carnation instant breakfast, but again, he flat turned me down on that one too. i have about 3 weeks to get this weight on him and am starting to feel panicked. i have told him the difference between the "empty" calories from weight gain formulas from GNC and calories from food. i think he is starting to understand that somewhat. we were given a sample of something called "benecalorie" which adds about 350 calories to whatever you are drinking, so will give that a try too - does anyone have any other food hints????

My fav was a really rich (and calorie laden) vanilla ice cream, with three scoops of soy or whey based protein powder, every kind of fresh fruit that was in the store, liquid vitamin supplements added to the mix, and then two cans of whatever liquid food was around ensure etc. It was palatable, vitamin and protein rich, and calorie laden. The alternative every other day was a vegetable mix, again every fresh vegetable that was in the store mixed with protein powders etc. Significantly less tasty but with vitamins and minerals not available in the fruits. Put down three of these a day, plus my PEG bag of Ensure 2 times a day and I was stable weight-wise.

okay - after paying attention to things and putting two and two together - it seems that all of a sudden jc is having problems with milk based products - it seems to have started since his surgery. about 1/2 an hour after drinking milk (or shakes and ensure/prosure/boost) he is in the bathroom. has anyone else ever experienced this situation? when he needs to be drinking and eating this stuff for weight gain his body isnt going for it at all! any ideas?