When will food taste good again after chemo and radiation?

Posted by weebiscuit @weebiscuit, Aug 8, 2020

My husband was diagnosed with a Stage 4 bladder tumor in early Feb of 2020. He started with 4 rounds of chemo in March and a heavy dose of radiation in March, at Mayo in Rochester, MN. After they determined this was the correct treatment, he began 5 weeks of daily radiation concurrent with Cisplatin chemo two days of each of those five weeks. He never felt nauseated. Never got sores in his mouth. However, his taste buds went haywire. Everything under the sun tasted disgusting.

The odd thing is that he is now just about 3 months past his last Cisplatin chemo treatment and radiation, yet his taste has gotten worse. He can't stand even looking at food. He has dropped 25 pounds since treatment started. The dietician told me to give him six small meals a day. He can't even stand to put something in his mouth once a day.

Sometimes I can get a quarter cup of cottage cheese with canned peaches in him. Other times a half cup of mashed potatoes. Bran cereal in the morning. But no matter what I try he says it's torture getting it down because it all tastes so terrible. I am having him drink Boost 20 gr protein drinks 3 times a day and an considering pushing 4 a day on him. He hates them, too, because they are way too sweet, but he can gulp them down quickly. However, he has to immediately follow the drink with three green olives, to get the sweet taste out of his mouth.

I've tried everything... gargling with water/baking soda/salt before eating. Gargling with black tea before eating. Giving him sauerkraut and other non-sweet foods. (He absolutely hates any meat because he has to chew it). I've given him bean with bacon soup but I have to puree it first, so he can quickly drink it down.

I've been on the phone so many times with dieticians and doctors from Mayo, and they all say this won't last forever. But when his treatment ended they said, "Expect another month or so when your taste is still bad." It's been three months, and I swear, it's gotten worse the last few weeks.

Has anyone ever gone this long with tastebuds totally messed up? My husband is beginning to think this is going to be what it's like for the rest of his life!

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Profile picture for bayside @bayside

Hi, my name is Larry. I had throat cancer. One chemo and 7 weeks of radiation. My taste buds took a big hit. Everything tasted realy bad. Although I have never tasted dirty carpet, thats what everything tasted like. I could not eat anything! But, I juiced carrots and added organic green powder daily. The flavor of the carrots masked all unpleasent flavors. After 4 weeks of radiation the oncologist examined my throat and said the tumor had shrunk. He asked what I am doing differently and I told him carrot juice. He said maybe there is something beneficial to that.
I have always been thin but lost 30 pounds from not eating, only carrot juice and green powder.
That was 15 years ago. After 5years the VA considers me cured. Peace

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@bayside So glad you have survived this awful disease! My husband has a tumor on 1 tonsil and in an adjacent lymph node, having biopsy next week to plan treatment. Doctor said probably 6 weeks radiation and maybe 3 chemo sessions! How bad was your treatment?

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