Eating during cancer care

Hi @nauden. I know it’s aways our goal to eat healthy, well balanced food. Especially when we have cancer/treatments. I think we feel fearful if we make a misstep and eat something on the naughty-list for food!
Your palliative care nurse was spot on in encouraging you to eat high quality food right now. My Mayo dietician had also told me the same thing but added high caloric, (reasonably) healthy foods. 😅
So she had my husband add foods such as Lactaid ice cream to my smoothies along with protein powder. Lorna Doone shortbread cookies, even bacon!! Basically anything I could get in my mouth that I could tolerate, stay down and add weight! So I enjoyed all the naughty foods that I’d avoided for years. That helped to build some meat back on my bones. (I’d lost 40 pounds that I could ill afford)
After I reached a target weight (it was still a struggle) then I returned to my healthy diet and really, there was no harm done. So enjoy what you can get down!

Often when we go through chemo we lose our ability to taste anything and can also lose our taste buds. That’s what happened to me so even favorite foods just felt awful in my mouth. Cardboard and paste were the feelings I remember.
I learned a few tricks such as putting a drip of maple syrup on food (I sound like Buddy in Elf). But maple syrup actually added a ‘flavor’ to the food. It didn’t taste like maple but it did bring some foods to life.
Tru Lemon products worked for flavoring water. There’s no sugar and it comes in Tru Lemon, Tru Lime and Tru Orange. Made by freeze drying then grinding the food into powder. No chemicals. (Grocery store or Amazon)

There are other tricks and wonderful foods in the website I’ll post below. My husband (who did all my cooking during treatment) followed Chef Ryan Callahan’s “Cooking for Chemo”. webpage. He downloaded the digital Cooking for Chemo recipe book.
I’d encourage you to check out some of the recipes.
https://www.cookingforchemo.org/
By the way, welcome to Mayo Connect. You just gained a new supportive family. ☺️
You mentioned just starting chemo…the nausea is the pits. Don’t hesitate to talk to your chemo team to ask for anti-nausea meds!
May I ask what type of cancer decided your body was a good place to take up residence?

Thank you for the information on eating. I’ve been struggling with food not sounding or tasting good and then started chemo last week and was nauseous last two days. Mayo Palliative Care nurse also said, let’s worry about getting high quality food down right now. We’ll worry about variety and balance when you feel better. I needed that pep talk as I’ve been a good balanced diet eater for years and realize that cancer, especially treatment, changed the rules. Right now I’ll do the best I can.

Bob, Alumni Mentor @grandpabob thank you for your healthy tips or eating. Eating I don't have problem. But lack of eating is sign to watch for; my mom, several of her sibling, brother-in-law, neighbor, best friend husband died of Cancer Cachexia (didn't know the name until my hematologist told me watch for signs and symptoms)
AGAIN: Thank you for sharing this information. My sister was diagnosed with MS, then she was diagnosed with cancer (we pushed MS side and thought it was misdiagnosis of the cancer. After researching this, watching Youtube videos and reading; https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/multiple-sclerosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20350269
My sister for 20 years; one eye (black spot) see around it or blurry vision; can't see for ours, days
Temporary paralysis; she broke her leg walking, going for walk, her one leg (stopped working) fell
Couldn't dress herself, husband had to dress her (her hands stopped working) but she could do it the next day
She went to store, couldn't physically open door, store called her husband and family came and got my sister
Many times my sister was cleaning house , her body stopped, fell on floor and had to wait for husband to come home, laying there for hours and couldn't move. She tried to pick up things and couldn't if her life depended on it. I thought "I'm not as bad as my sister" but reading MS; I am showing signs but blaming it on cancer
This Mayo Clinic Health Letter is what I needed and will share this with my sister, who struggled with MS for years. It's something to think about THANK YOU BOB

Yes I do drink it but I never know whether my stomach will react to it. Thanks!

Ensure plus got by weight up. Worth a try?

When I had my surgery I was about 130 lb. I'm now 87. Every day I eat breakfast and throughout the day I eat small snacks and full dinner. My stomach doesn't growl now so I don't even know I am hungry but eat anyway. I have to watch what I eat because I aspirate at night if I eat something to aggravate it. So it's basically day by day till I gain weight if ever. I'm going to Dominican Republic in a week even though I'll look like skeleton in a bathing suit, lol. Oh well, life goes on!

I m have a problem with lack of appetite and weight loss. I’m trying to substitute full fat dairy for low fat. Also trying to eat more ice cream. I’m drinking a protein shake too. If that doesn’t work I’ll try Ensure. I’m also trying to eat a meal before 9am because it’s so easy for me to skip breakfast. Any other tricks are appreciated

My Doctor prescribed me with Marinol which is a pill form of cannabis that promotes appetite.
As a former Law Enforcement K-9 Handler I did not want to ingest this product but since my weight was declining I felt that I should.
I took the medication for a couple of weeks and it did help my appetite but I didn’t feel ethically able to continue use since MJ is illegal in my state.

MOJO

My doctor prescribed an appetite stimulant when I started losing my appetite, as a side effect of my medications/ Keytruda or Lenvima

Hello @jackthomas2001, Welcome to Connect. It can be difficult sometimes to figure out what is going on and then it causes us to be more concerned or worried when we don't know the answers. Here's a list of possibilities and more information that may be helpful:

"A loss of appetite is a symptom that can have many causes. This occurs when you don’t feel hungry. The medical term for a loss of appetite is anorexia. This is different from the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Identifying and treating the underlying cause of a loss of appetite will help you feel better."
-- Loss Of Appetite: Causes & Treatment: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/24228-loss-of-appetite.

Here is another article on the topic that might be helpful:
-- Loss of Appetite: Causes, Symptoms, and More: https://www.healthline.com/health/appetite-decreased.

Have you talked to your doctor to see if they might have some suggestions?