Yes great on the calories!! Feel better!

Check up at Moffit yesterday. The ulcer on the tongue where the tumor was has healed. Taking all calories by mouth since the first of the year, most of which are liquid. The eating is very slow and frustrating. A new swallow study this Monday, next PET in May. Any suggestions on the eating issue? Thanks!

Buster,

I'm four years out and eating is still an issue. I've worked with a wonderful speech pathologist on some tips and tricks to help and it has worked some. The damage done in my case it will never be "good" again but if I don't use it I'll only get worse. I try and eat some solid foods everyday although the lion's share of my nutrition is via a liquid diet.

As a person that owned a restaurant and lived to eat, I've been able to change and become someone who eats to live. Until this last year I struggled with keeping good weight on, however after a lot of research and trial and error I'm now at a very healthy weight (built like my 63 Buick Riviera actually) and feel great.

My advice would be to work with a speech pathologist and a nutritionist, who help you with not just the process but also getting the nutrition that you need despite any challenges you now have.

Hope that helps!

Eric

Hi Buster. Here is a list of foods that are easier to eat. Alot of us have issues with relearning how to eat again. Food texture can play a big part in that process. Cut or mash up foods and gradually decrease how much you mash things up. Good luck with eating!

Easy to Eat Food List

Thanks for the response. I am working with a speech pathologist, had a swallow study yesterday. The G tube will be removed this month. My goal is 3000 calories per day, I am close most days. I have gained a little over 3 pounds in the past 3 weeks. I am seldom hungry, I eat because I know that I need to. I have not tried bread and I find meat very difficult.Thanks for the response and suggestions.

Bread is hard for me too... I'm a little behind you maybe 3 months out of radiation treatment but it's been almost a year since my surgery. I can eat pretty much anything though I personally don't eat meat, but I do eat simulated meat. Vegetarian and find that's not too bad with a sauce. Wraps are okay, but any bread has to be super soft, and small bites with lots of water! good luck!

My husband has found that seafood is easier to swallow than meat - shrimp and scallops work well, and the Trident brand 'Pubhouse Cod' is also a winner.

Kielbasi and hotdogs (get the kind without the sulfites and sulfates) were the first meat he could eat.

The part of the chicken thigh next to the bone is moist and has short muscle strands, making it easier to swallow.

Best wishes on your continued recovery.

I also do really well with most seafood. I also eat Hebrew National hotdogs. And I agree that chicken thighs work a lot better than white meat. I have been able to eat chicken wings, too, as long as they aren't a dry rub and aren't too spicy. Bread is still difficult, unless it is thin and very flaky. Today I had a bowl of French onion soup, and the bread on top was nice and soggy so I could eat that as well.
Good luck with your treatments! Keep hydrated, too!

A pressure cooker is a great tool for cooking things that are extra moist. Dark meat for turkey and chicken is easier than white meat. Taking in 3000 calories daily by mouth is not easy, good job Buster! My diet isnt always the best. Everyday I drink hot chocolate with about a cup of half and half in it plus I eat pumpkin cheesecake with whipped cream. I wonder why I now have to watch my intake. LOL!

I never had Ron try hot dogs or keilbasa yet, gonna have to try making him some. Ron eats bread but he has to have it soaked in some kind of gravy or sauce and takes off the crust. He hasn't tried Chicken wings at all but chicken in paprikash or soups or cream sauces he can get it down and that's with no teeth and his flap that is sewn down on his bottom gum. He also has done seafood and he does tuna salads and just the other day he had me put shredded cheese on top of it. AND for those of you who do like chicken livers, I made him a batch of chicken livers with chopped up fine onion and celery in a brown homemade gravy that he ate with his bread and butter the past 4 days! Hey for $1.72 for a lb not to shabby of a deal plus I ate some yesterday over brown rice myself!