#76019 06-21-2008 03:39 PM | Joined: Dec 2007 Posts: 138 Senior Member (100+ posts) | OP  Senior Member (100+ posts)
Joined: Dec 2007 Posts: 138 | I was watching TV this afternoon and noticed how many food commercials there are. I realized that the food portions on those commercials are huge! I also realized that I used to be able to eat those huge portions with no trouble at all. Then I recalled what my MO said to me a few months ago. He said..."you'll never be able to eat the way you used to eat". I was hoping he was wrong, but now that I've started eating more foods again, I realize that he may be right. I cannot ever imagine myself biting into a huge sub or hamburger again. Everything I eat has to be in very tiny bites. Anything bigger than that and I choke because of lack of saliva to wash it down. Anyway, I have a question...Has ANYONE ever gone back to eating the way they used to eat? Or is eating smaller portions the "new norm" for all of us head and neck survivors?
Nine years out. New normal with limitations, but surviving and living life to the fullest.
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 5,260 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 5,260 | 007, I haven,t gone back to normal eating yet either. Normal for me now is whatever my 500 Watt blender can make soupy. LOL No teeth and still have months to go before I get some. It kind of gets to you after awhile and makes one wonder what even a peanut butter sandwich would taste like. Good luck but what if you kept washing it down with water or some other liquid ? I had a man tell me he was broiling steaks and them used his blender , added milk, then drank it that way,. LOL sounds kind of nasty to me.
Since posting this. UPMC, Pittsburgh, Oct 2011 until Jan. I averaged about 2 to 3 surgeries a week there. w Can't have jaw made as bone is deteroriating steaily that is left in jaw. Mersa is to blame. Feeding tube . Had trach for 4mos. Got it out April.
--- Passed away 5/14/14, will be greatly missed by everyone here
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 38 Contributing Member (25+ posts) | | Contributing Member (25+ posts)
Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 38 | Hi there, I have to tell you that at this point my appetite seems to be making up for lost time. I am so grateful for every bite I eat! I LOVE food again, and it's fun. I never thought I would see this day, but now I actually have to start watching that I don't gain weight. My taste for chocolate, cheese, and ice cream came back with a vengeance. On the foods that actually qualify as nutrition, though, my portions are not quite back to precancer.
Good luck with your food experience. Life is so full of surprises.
Non-smoker non-drinker, 50 when diagnosed 9/11/06 stage IV scc of oropharnyx, malignant lymph nodes both sides of neck. Cause=HPV16. Daily chemo & daily IMRT for 7 weeks. In 2 clinical trials at Johns Hopkins, good results. Peg tube out March 07. Update September 2014: gratefully in good health!
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | I agree that for many many months post Tx I never thought I would ever eat normal again but here I am almost 22 months post and I am having to WATCH what and how much I eat and I'm still riding my bike. I have regained 100% of my weight back and I'm sorry to say the "eat what you want honeymoon" is over. Good news, bad news thing. Ugh
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
| | | | | Joined: May 2007 Posts: 622 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: May 2007 Posts: 622 | I can honestly say that I totally agree with you 007. I find myself doing the same thing.
No, I have not gone back to eating the way I did before treatments, of course that being said, I may not be eating as much "healthy" stuff either. The portion sizes are way down. I am always asking the restaurants that I can eat in to not give me as much.
I'm there
Kevin
18 YEAR SURVIVOR
SCC Tongue (T3N0M0) diag 06/2006.
No evidence of disease 2010
Another PET 12-2014 pre-HBO, still N.E.D.
�Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. It matters that you don't just give up.�
Stephen Hawking | | | | | Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 38 Contributing Member (25+ posts) | | Contributing Member (25+ posts)
Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 38 | Well I feel better to know that I'm not the only one here who indulges in junk food. Seems like a crime that I want to put bad things in my body after all I've been through and vowing I would NOT give it anything I knew was bad. What I didn't know was that when I said that, my taste buds and brain weren't functioning as they are now. Talking with you all is a reminder, though, that I do need to take care of myself just as conscientiously when I'm "well" as when I wasn't. Easier said than done, but a worthy goal, right?
Non-smoker non-drinker, 50 when diagnosed 9/11/06 stage IV scc of oropharnyx, malignant lymph nodes both sides of neck. Cause=HPV16. Daily chemo & daily IMRT for 7 weeks. In 2 clinical trials at Johns Hopkins, good results. Peg tube out March 07. Update September 2014: gratefully in good health!
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