What foods worked best during chemo & radiation for throat cancer?

Thanks for these. Did Steve have difficulty swallowing after week 4? Or did you just think out the smoothies more?

Try Pinterest, too. Invest in a stick blender. I found a lot of cream soup recipes and cheese soup recipes that included vegetables. Once the soup is done you can hit it with the stick blender and its an easier swallow. The cheese adds protein and calories so does the cream. I added baked potato to thicken and more cream to thin the soup.

My husband had chemo and radiation for tongue cancer last year. First off document everything he puts in his mouth. You'd be suprised how few calories he takes in if you're not keeping track. He ate alot of the Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls,canned soups, Mac n cheese, yogurt. I would put 7 16 Oz bottles of water on the table everyday so we knew how much he was drinking. Supplement with Ensure,etc .and a milkshake several times a week. Keep a calorie total daily ! This too shall pass!!

@jxssicascott, I added this discussion to the Head & Neck Cancer support group as well.

How is you dad doing? Are you his main caregiver?

This was pretty much my diet for two months:
1) Broth-based soups (e.g. french onion) with protein powder and butter added (I was still somewhat able to taste butter).
2) Iced coffee with lots of sugar and cream.
3) Scrambled eggs (didn’t taste like anything but it’s protein and goes down fairly well).

Hang in there!

One thing not often mentioned is that esophageal stricture can be a factor. An ENT would be able to address the question.

Finely chopped broccoli and carrots thoroughly cooked in ramen noodle broth with an additional 1/4 cup water, then add noodles broken up into small pieces, after 3 minutes added 1 beaten egg swirling with a fork and cook for 1 more minute. All the food groups. I had parotid cancer and radiation and lost all taste except for some taste of eggs and chocolate. Also warm/hot green tea is soothing. I hate the taste of green tea but without functioning taste buds it really helped. Some people will add honey. Wish you a speedy recovery.

Many fine suggestions here but if I may, the patient knows if they are hungry or not. The treatments take away our appetite certainly but internally, we are not necessarily hungry. We need fluids as we will not last long without water. Food however is not a daily requirement. Our body stores energy and nutrients. It can’t store water for any extended time.
When we are hungry, calories and proteins are needed. Products such as Ensure are usually easily swallowed and can be chilled or warmed as the patient might find suitable. I tolerated mine chilled. Despite our best efforts, I still lost about thirty pounds. I didn’t die obviously.
Let’s not force feed our patients, no matter how we as caregivers might think we should. Have things available. Don’t be discouraged if the taste is wrong or only a small bit is consumed. The day will come when the plate is cleaned and seconds are requested.

I drank milkshakes for almost a year. Every combo you can think of I had my husband make. It was the only thing I could tolerate. I did lose a significant amount of weight still, but I also was very overweight when I started. Don't force him to eat! We simply can't and sometimes our loved ones don't understand. Remember it is disheartening for us too. Praying for you both.

@hrhwilliam not trying to force feed him at all or make him eat anything he doesn’t want to, I just know that he WANTS to try & eat something instead of solely relying on a feeding tube so I’m looking for suggestions for something he can tolerate for those rare moments that he does want to eat! That’s all!