Chemo and food ideas

[samalexholly]

Ok guys i could do with a few suggestions.
My mum is currently having chemo and has been given a list of foods she can not eat.
However we could do with some ideas for what she could eat (Meal suggestions) or perhaps you could recommend a good website?
Thanks :)

saomeone here mentioned porridge with condensed milk

lol! yea that was my mum thanks anyway

How curious - I had chemo last year and was never given a list. Maybe it's for a different type of cancer (I was breast cancer). What does she have to avoid? Or is it that she's feeling rotten - maybe mouth ulcers, or nausea? Let me know and I'll have a think. Hope she's not too bad.

Hi smee. mum also had breast cancer. the op was successful and the chemo is just to make sure it dont come back. The hospital gave her a long list of things she could not eat.
My dad and i took her some grapes when she was in hospital and they told her she could not have them because they were not peeled.

FOODS TO AVOID
------

.ALL NUTS AND DRIED FRUITS
.RAW VEGETABLES AND SALAD INGREDIENTS
.FRESH FRUIT (UNLESS IT CAN BE PEELED)
.PEPPER
.FRESH HERBS AND SEASONINGS UNLESS ADDED

DURING COOKING PROCESS
.RAW OR RARE COOKED MEATS,FISH OR EGGS
.SCRAMBLED EGG, EGG CUSTARD(S), OMELETTES,
MOUSSES
.HOME MADE MAYONNAISE(SHOP BOUGHT WILL BE

SUITABLE BECAUSE IT IS PASTEURISED)
.SOFT CHEESE(COTTAGE CHEESE,BRIE,CAMEMBERT)
.BLUE CHEESE AND ANY NATURALLY AGED CHEESE
.SHELLFISH
.COLD CUTS AND PROCESSED MEATS(I.E HOT
DOGS,HAM,BOLOGNA,SALAMI OR SAUSAGE)
.RAW HONEY
.BIO/LIVE YOGHURTS
.ENSURE THAT ALL MILK USED IS PASTEURISED

this is the exact list

Hi, I am samalexholly's mum, I couldn't have these foods as I had a very low blood count. They called it neurapenic So I think I couldn't have these foods then not when my count was normal. x

put into google words neurapenic and diet

I got this one but there are many more

www.upmc.com/HealthAtoZ/patienteducation/Documents/NeutropenicDiet.pdf

thankyou kayah your link was very useful x :)

Ah that makes total sense. Poor you. I was neutropenic at one point too, though the only thing they warned me off was cheese/ raw eggs.

Have you got an appetite?? I found it hard to eat during treatment, but my main side effect was nausea, so that didn't exactly help. That list from kayah looks good. Thinking back, I found cereals the easiest when I was really low. So things like Rice Crispies or cornflakes with very cold milk - pasteurised obviously.

If you want some hand holding and maybe a bit of humour, there are a fair few of us over on the Tamoxifen thread. Good place for answering any questions too, as someone on there will have been there before you, so might have an answer.

yes smee we should look on that thread! thanks to you both xxx

i mean shall look lol!

Hello Smeee. I Had a normal appetite while I was in hospital, and they gave me a high protein diet, which I must say I quite enjoyed. Yes I was nauseas when I had my first chemo, but on the 2nd one they gave me a tablet to help and it did, so I was expecting an easier time but then I caught an infection and was admitted to hospital. Maybe it will be better next time. I found cereals a lot easier to take when I wasn't feeling great too x

HI there (and waving to Smee!)

I also went through this treatment last year. I washed all fruit and salad very very thoroughly during chemo even though I was lucky and did not get neutropenic.

I didn't eat much on the chemo day (but frank loads of water) or the day or two after as I tended to be sick. I was advised to eat small meals 4 times a day.

The rest of the time I found I craved meat, chicken and fish. We don't usually eat very much of these due to most of the family being veggie, but I cooked my self liver and red meat at least once a week. To my mind it was my body desperately rebulding cells to recover.

So I tried to eat healthily - lots of fruit and veg and pulses to avoid constipation, and protein to rebuild! I was very thirsty almost all the time so drinking lots was helpful - and soup!

I did see this sort of advise (which is similar to banned food while preganat I think) but apart from extremely thorough washing and peeling of fruit and veg, I mainly ate what I felt like. Did avoid unpasteurised stuff.

Good luck and yes come over the other thread which was a life-line for me all of 2010. I am recovered and well and full of energy now! You'll get there but it is a slog at times. One step at a time was my motto.

Bet it doesn't seem like it, but you're doing well if you're through two. Are you having six?? If so, I think you're in the hardest place, as it must feel as though there's a long way to go. I do so remember, but genuinely it starts to go quicker after the third.

Neutropenia's so dependent on your reaction to the drugs. My Oncologist told me to try and think of it as a positive, as it meant the chemo was really attacking everything, so my body was reacting as they wanted it to, to the drugs. Seems odd to be happy about something making you so low, but I sort of knew what she meant. I'd bet they'll keep an eye on you next time, but they might lower your dose if it happens again. They did with me.

Are you on the FEC regime?? I can still remember the smell and I finished chemo last Autumn, and the FEC part of it in the summer.

Waving back to Sandripples - you were much more hygenic and healthy than I ever was.

Yes Smee, i am on 6, and you are right I do feel as though its the hardest place to be as I have had all of my chemos so far delayed by a week. I am due my 3rd tomorrow, but from what the hospital told me i think it will be delayed again. Yes I am on the FEC regime, I must admit i hate the smell and the feeling as they pump the stuff into me. I can't wait for the finish xx

Hello,you only have to aviod listed foods when you are neutropenic.

I would suggest eating whatever takes your fancy( other than whats on the list when counts are low.)as my philosophy is anything is better than nowt.Oddly enough a lot of patients I look after crave junk food,pot noodles often igure!If you can try and have a healthy diet.Our dietician often suggests full fat milk,cream;yoghurts,ice cream etc etc if weight loss is an issue.If you get a sore mouth you can alweays resort to ice pops,icecreams and even freeze those dreaded nutritional supplements like fortisips to make them more palatable.Build ups/scandishakes can be handy if you can't tolerate solid foods.Good luck with your treatment,op.

It's one hell of a slog, isn't it? Honestly though, I found the third one hardest in some ways, so am not surprised you're a bit down about it all. Definitely gets easier by number four - think it's because after that you can see the end's in sight and you know what to expect, so can hunker down on the bad days and enjoy the time when you're feeling vaguely normal.

Ice pops are a good idea - I'd forgotten I used to crave those. But I had a lot of mouth problems, so maybe that was why.

Really good luck tomorrow if they let you have it. Hope they do, as then you're half way through.

Thank you smee, I hope they do it too, as you say when I get to three I am half way there. x Watch this space as they say xx

If you have a Maggie's Centre near you, they might have a dietician who can suggest ways to make your food more healthy and appetising. A dietician I talked to suggested a little bit of dark chocolate would taste better on your poor taste buds, and you would eat less than cheap milk chocolate. She also suggested adding more vegetables in meals to up your intake, making juices and smoothies, eating small and often, and on bad days she even admitted there is a place for a ready meal! I think one of the best things a friend can do for you and your family is to make you a homecooked dinner that you don't have to shop for and prepare. You can join Maggie's community online - they have loads of support for cancer patients and their families.

No chemo this week, too soon after hospital, and I have got to learn to inject myself as they want me to have something like insulin to make sure I am not that poorly again. Not looking forward to injecting myself I must admit.

Ah, poor you. I had to inject myself too. Was a bit freaked by the idea, but honestly found it okay, so long as I concentrated on the mechanics of it, rather than thinking too much.

Really sorry you got delayed again though - so frustrating when that happens. Am guessing the injections will help to stop that happening again. Have they delayed you until next Monday then?