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

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

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

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!!

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.

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

Smoothies

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie – High Calorie, High Protein

½ cup whole milk OR a nutrition drink
1 frozen banana
¼ cup peanut butter
½ cup whole fat yogurt
¾ scoop protein powder
2 packs Stevia or a tablespoon of honey
2 tbs cream or half-and-half
Salt (just a pinch)

The recipe as it’s written was good early in treatment, but it got too thick for Steve around week 4. You can add water or use more milk or nutrition drink to thin it out. Thinning it out makes more volume.
Instead of milk, I often use a bottle of Core Power Elite, chocolate or vanilla (14 oz). That seems to make the perfect consistency for Steve, even though it ends up being 2 glasses of smoothie.

Sometimes I use Boost Very High Calorie, Vanilla (8 oz) instead of milk.

I add the cream or half-and-half at the end and stir it in by hand. I’m not sure, but it seems that blending it made the cream get too thick.

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Mango Smoothie – high calorie

1 cup frozen mango
1 cup whole milk or a nutrition drink
¼ cup yogurt
1 tbl honey or 1 pkg stevia
1-2 tbs heavy cream or half-and-half
1 scoop protein powder

I add the heavy cream at the end and stir it in by hand. It seems to get too thick if I blend it in the blender.

I often use Boost Very High Calorie Vanilla flavor instead of milk.

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Mixed Berry Smoothie

1 ½ cups Naked Juice (Berry Blast)
1 Frozen banana, sliced
1 ½ cups Mixed frozen berries
¾ cup Greek yogurt (5% fat)
1 tbl Honey

Sometimes I have to add water to thin it out enough.

@stephenrfleury can you give out some recipes please?

6 weeks after 15 treatments [Proton Beam] I could finally start to eat semi normal. During the 6 weeks ice cream seemed to help as I tried to eat. It probably chilled and numbed the esophagus / junction to stomach where my cancer is.

For me, I was told my Mayo's oncology dietician was to concentrate on calories (at least 2500/day) and protein (at least 120 grams/day). I was also told to ignore anything that didn't contribute to these goals, don't worry about eating healthy, etc. In week three, all of a sudden I couldn't swallow solid foods. So for the next 2 months I just had smoothies, either with protein rich or calorie rich supplements. I have recipes if you are interested.

@jxssicascott tell him to hang in there! I know how bad it sucks and then when you see other patients eating it really wears on you as to why you can’t eat. Everyone is different and treatments can be different as well. At least when you use the feeding tube with the prescribed food from the dietitian you know you’re getting the proper nutrition to stay alive!
You can pm me anytime if you’d rather.
Jody

@hopeful33250 thank you for suggesting the head & neck cancer page, I didn’t see that one when I was looking around for support groups so I’ll check that one out as well! He was diagnosed in early November & will finish treatment on January 21st!