Eat like you're never gonna eat again

[Linda Griffith]

I really appreciate and am learning from your dialog here and wanted to thank you so much for posting...

I am a nurse and work in urgent/emergent care ..I always regular chemo patients... that come in for pain management, nausea and rehydration during chemotherapy. (we have a close affiliation with our Oncology team so there is no sitting in the lobby with sick people ..they just come in..or call ahead and as soon as we  and we get them back to a room)

I have time with these folks that I would not give up for a million dollars...most of what I do is in such a hurry "treat em and street em"  I actually get to sit and chat during these visits while I am starting IV's or giving meds... (they can call us ahead and we usually will be able to hold a room with a TV and recliner for a family member) ...

it seems all we talk about besides their current state of health ..is food!

we have long conversations about it and what they eat or plan to eat between treatments! How much they are missing certian foods .

I can offer warm blankets, fluids, pain and nausea medications ...for relief ....but I know that the more important times are the between treatments when they are feeling better

I agree not everyone struggles with chemo..but a lot of people do! and the ups and downs are expected ....So I am glad I can provide this care where I work ...

and again I am so glad you are out here talking about this ..because even non foodies going through chemo really miss eating things they love!

I am going to put some limes in the fridg at work ...

thank you so much and good luck to you..

Heidi

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[Linda Griffith]

Thanks for the tips, people. Please keep them coming.

Holly, my last two weeks coincide with the near-peak of the produce season, so tomatoes and corn figure strongly in my dietary plans between now and the onset of chemotherapy.

So far I know I'm making a lobster quesadilla, ancho chile-rubbed beef short ribs, and some crispy skillet cornbread with fresh sweet corn added to the batter. Shrimp and grits too. These are some of my comfort foods.

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From Linda Griffith

I post too seldom to recall how to do this, so I hope I'm not screwing something up.

It's just a year since I finished all of my treatments for stage 2 breast cancer. Nothing terribly out of the "ordinary"...except for the fact that I'd been hurt in a car accident two weeks before the diagnosis and had to delay most of that treatment until now!

Because I'd spent nearly 15 years raising money for medical research, I didn't hesitate when offered a chance to participate in a National Institutes of Health Research Protocol. A computer assigned me to the group that would be the most difficult for someone with severe joint pain. Let alone what turned out to be severely torn rotator cuff and blown out bicep tendon! Among other "issues", including a knee problem that is the next issue to be faced.

The good thing was...the protocol gave me extra large dose of conventional chemo every other week for 16 weeks. I loved the routine. And I found that ginger was the "go to" thing that took care of everything. Add lime juice and I was such a happy camper! Ginger ale (A natural ginger infusion with fresh lime juice in Perrier as soon as my feet hit the floor) got me up in the morning. Ginger tea soothed my stomach. Ginger in chicken broth soothed me at lunch. Lots of ginger in a stir fry...I was really very lucky because the 4 nausea-causing treatments only caused problems over 4 days and really bad ones for 3 of them. So, ginger was really helpful. After that, I was able to eat without serious issues. And, strangely, my palate was not seriously compromised. I just couldn't cook very well because my upper body was in so much car-accident pain.

And my husband, dear sweetheart, forgot how to cook. Yet, he grew up in a restaurant.

We are co-authors of 6 cookbooks. I recall standing in the kitchen screaming at him..."I'm going to try to have your name removed from those books because I'm starving to death!" Instead, of course, I called a few close friends, and they brought food. Too funny. But I had hated to accept the many wonderful offers because I was living with such a good cook. Although, I've been the primary cook in the family for most of our marriage.

Once I got into the Taxol part of the treatments... it was only pain-inducing (he was at work when I was sometimes shrieking with it, too!)...making edible food became easier. I felt better and seemed to find some energy. Some, being a relative word. I guess I did pretty well, because I also managed to run a benefit from my bed. I couldn't do a lot of things because I'd had an auto-immune reaction to something and all the skin on the palms of my hands and soles of my feet started coming off (I forgot that until I started writing this)...it was pretty painful for quite a while...

Any way...6 weeks ago today my right shoulder was finally re-made. It really was a re-make. It's a miracle. And I still have discomfort stirring a pot of sauce. But after everything that was done, I shouldn't even be trying to do that yet.

In 3 more months I'll be in much better shape, I know, the therapists promise me.

I'm so greatful for everything. My poor husband who couldn't handle my illness and just froze. (But the shoulder surgery was nothing that scared him, you'll be happy to know. ) My wonderful friends who fed me wonderfully well when I needed help. I'm incredibly grateful to be alive all-together, because the woman who hit my car missed my door by 1/15th of a second...and at 45 mph, she would have killed me. I'm really grateful that I can zone out on pain by thinking about what I'd like to be eating...some wonderful raw clams, or fabulous oysters...or teaching a grandchild how to eat a lobster, just as my grandfather taught me. And as he taught my sons...each of us at age 2. I'm a New Englander by birth.

And many of these "tastes" are really part of me, I believe that.

And while I know that chemo is supposed to cause all kinds of changes to one's palate, I will say that it appears I had only one significant change. I developed a great liking for CHOCOLATE, something I never especially cared about before.

And I presume that came about because I couldn't have wine. And now that I can drink again...I still happen to like chocolate. But I am picky. It has to be made by Michael Recchiuti in San Francisco. So, you know I don't get it very often.

[Malawry]

I'm several days into chemotherapy now, and Jamie, your opening post rings so, so true for me. I went to the farmer's market this morning and it was like the first cool breeze on my face after months of solitary confinement...even though my first session was only last Wednesday. I bought beautiful corn, cucumbers, peaches, and some friends who run a farm gave me a peck of ginger gold apples. I turned the apples into a crisp when I got home, which I shared with my parents who have been helping me through this so much. If I can only eat so much of something, I desperately want it to be the best version possible..and I spend a lot of time thinking about what I might be able to eat and how best to prepare it. My capacity to eat is also severely limited. Every bite counts. Seize the flavors you love like there's no tomorrow...because you never know.

[llc45]

I just found this thread. It's been about 7 mos since chemo finished and almost 5 since I finished radiation. I had major problems with nausea and lack of appetite. Although the anti-nausea drugs didn't work for me, I did get a lot of relief from something called electro-acupuncture (they actually connect the acupunture needles to electricity so you feel a slight electric charge). After the first bad chemo treatment, just happened to read an article about alternative treatment in a woman's magazine I recieved the day talking about acupuncture. It is worth a try - not sure I would have made it through chemo without it. Although I had to travel kind of far (about an hr) to find an acupuncturist that offered this type of treatment (I think it's kind of new and I live in the country), it was worth it. I would never have considered alternative therapy before this, so it made a believer out of me. Not only help with the nausea, it also greatly helped with relaxation and stress reduction.

Even with that, I did not feel like eating much except soup, Fage yogurt with honey, and grilled cheese sandwiches. I made sure that my husband bought really good cheese selections for the sandwiches and reallyt good bread for the grilled cheese. Sometime he added apples or tomatoe. I had froze a bunch of Thai carrot soup before I started chemo which really came in handy. Otherwise, I really relied on good chicken soup. I am so happy I learned about Fage through egullet! The good news is that I am back down to the weight I was when I was in my 20s. People keep saying not to worry, I'll gain the weight back and I keep thinking, no way, I like being thin again and I see it as the silver lining after all of the nausea. LOL

Since my stomach shrunk quite a bit through that period, I have tried to not go back to my habit of eating large portions. I am trying to eat more like they say the French do - smaller portions of great food. My husband and daughter greatly appreciate my taking over the cooking again. I could not even stand the smell of most food during that time. Lots of friends and family tried to cook for us during that period. Unfortunately, we don't happen to know a lot of people who are good cooks! The effort behind it was greatly appreciated though. My mother, who does not like to cook, brought the same two things every week - dried out macaroni and cheese and a tomatoe beef soup. I love her dearly but never want to see these food items ever again. The one great thing we got during that time was great stuffed cabbage from a coworker's mother that was Romanian. The flavor was incredible and I think I live off of that for a week straight after I got off the worst chemo treatment and switched to the Taxol.

Before chemo, I tried to cook mostly healthy but flavorful meals. Although I still try to do that, I notice I have been cooking more decadant meals. For example, I used to make crustless quiche with lowfat milk. Now, I make the full-fat version and just eat less of it. I think I feel the need to treat myself more having gone through not wanting to eat for so long.

My best wishes go out to those are going through this now. Given how bad my nausea was and how long it lasted after every treatment (don't be too scared - my oncologist said I was the exception to the rule since the good anti-nausea meds became available), I became somewhat of an expert on all kinds of treatments. Also drank a lot of ginger tea! Please feel free to use me as a resource on any questions on this. Best news is that there is normally an end at which point you appreciate food even more. My recommendation is to just eat what you feel like and when you feel like it and not worry about it too much.

Everyone in my extended family is thrilled that I will once again be taking over the holiday meals. Have finally started doing dinner parties again also. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, keep strong!!!

[llc45]

One thing that kept me going during that time was reading about what everyone was cooking on egullet. I kept a list of recipes I wanted to make from egullet and a couple of other sites. It gave me something to look forward to and was was well worth the wait.