Kerry just finished week 2 of chemo and radiation. Overall, it was a good week. The chemo really seems to affect his appetite and taste of food. Our biggest battle this week was finding something that sounded good to eat and getting him to eat it before it started sounding not so good. It’s tough to fight off nausea and keep food in your stomach when you don’t really want to eat anything at all.
We did find a couple of winners in the food category. Pizza always seems to sound good. Banana peppers…we also learned our boys also enjoy these. We’ve gone through more than a couple jars this week already! I made a vegan cauliflower/broccoli soup this last week that he was able to eat for more than one meal.
When Kerry was initially diagnosed we went to a mostly plant based diet without processed carbs or sugars. With his lack of appetite, there have been some days he’s just eaten whatever he could tolerate…plant based or not.
Radiation has gone well. Fatigue has been the biggest side effect there. The radiation oncologist said week 3 tends to be the week that things catch up with you. So we’re going into next week with a little trepidation, but also with the prayer that Kerry will continue to be minimally effected by the treatment and that he will continue to be able to work.
So prayer requests for this week:
- That Kerry’s appetite would return.
- Rest when he needs it and the wisdom to know when it’s time to take a break. Sometimes he pushes himself and then just drops at the end of the day.
- Minimal side effects as we go through week 3 radiation.
- Strength and stamina for the weeks ahead.
Sending prayers🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Has anyone said anything to you about checking into receiving a free case of Boost monthly?(you pick it up at the Cancer Center on Broadway) not far from the Cancer Center’s office of (Dr Matter) in Wichita. We got it for Bill every month. He would drink it when he didn’t want anything to eat. He liked the chocolate. It did help a lot. Margo
Thanks Margo! I’ll look into it. I did buy him a couple shakes to try this week to see if that would help.
The American Cancer Society is a great resource. They were really helpful and supportive for my mom with her pancreatic cancer. She used the Boost each week also and could tolerate it when she couldn’t eat anything else. My prayers are with you.
Colleen
Erin,
I found that some spicy vs bland foods helped. I found myself eating tons of chicken in multiple ways. My sister made a recipe called Peach Chicken and I found that worked okay for me. One of the problems I developed was eating sweets as they really helped kill the metal taste in my mouth. I took Kytrel and Zofran by the dozens which really helped a lot for the nausea. The boost is also a good idea. Protein really helps.
Yes! He wants sweets and salty food. Things just don’t taste the same for him and that’s discouraging sometimes I think.