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I asked my friend who had the year-long chemo what she ate when she felt sick. This is her reply. I thought it might give folks some ideas. She is now 2 years into remission from breast and uterine cancers.
Some doc I saw on TV talked about his cancer diet and gave the letters GOMBS to remember it by. He said these are things he thinks we should eat every day: G for greens, O for onions, M for mushrooms, B for berries & beans, and S for seeds and nuts. I read more about it on line and what properties these food have that are important, so have started eating more mushroom and onions...the other things on his list I have every day anyway.
When I was doing chemo the first six months, with three drugs, I didn't do a lot of cooking and nothing tasted good....there were 4-5 days between each treatment when all I could do was get out of bed to get food from the fridge and make it to the bathroom. I shopped ahead of time to make sure I had eveything I'd need for a week until I felt well enough to shop again. Whole Foods is just a few blocks away, so did most of my shopping there, and depended a lot on their deli. I always try to buy organic.
Here is a shopping list (with added explanations for you) that I found last week in an old jacket that I haven't worn since last winter:
Odwalla Superfood green drink
POM (pomegranate juice)
Cottage cheese
Eggs
Chicken (grilled boneless skinless breast from deli)
Salmon (grilled, from deli)
Greek yogurt (has 14 to 20 grams of protein per serving)
Walnuts
Almonds
Pumpkin, sunflower and sesame Seeds
veggie sushi wraps
green tea (cup each morning)
Black Diamond sharp cheddar
Brown rice and beans (black, kidney, garbanzo, etc.) I have an easy recipe that I'd make once a week and keep in the fridge.
Whole Foods 365 Electrolyte Enhanced water..(50 oz bottles, 1 and 1/2 bottle per day. Sometimes lemon slices made it taste even better).
Apples, RED grapes, lemons, pears, etc.
Bagged greens and a trip through the salad bar to stock up on broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, mushrooms, onion, tomatoes and whatever else looked good.
Avocado, and unsalted corn chips (everything tasted too salty, still does).
Fingerlings (roasted, they are better than french fries!)
Ready-made soups from Boulder Soup Works (my favs are Green Pea with Mint, Red Lentil Dahl)
If I was craving sweets, I'd have on hand fresh ground peanut butter and local honey to mix together and eat with a small piece of dark semi-sweet chocolate...let it all melt in my mouth....but my tongue was too raw to do this very often. I craved fresh blueberries with cottage cheese, and some sweetener (Stevia) mixed in.
I ALWAYS have on hand, for the smoothie I still make every morning:
frozen blueberries
bananas
ground flaxseed meal
Whey protein powder
almond, hemp or rice milk (cartons store handily, unrefrigerated)
(half banana, half cup blueberries, scoop protein powder, 1/4 cup ground flaxseed, a bit of cinnamon to help my blood sugar levels, then fill the large plastic cup I mix it in with about a cup or more of the milk, and mix it up with a 'stick mixer'.......I can't start my day without this purple smoothie, I am addicted. *** i also take 2000 mg of Vit D, and 3 Omego 3-6-9 fish oil capsules, per my oncologist)
I had been gluten intolerant before chemo, but could eat small amounts while on chemo....it must have killed the gut cells that reacted to gluten. My favorite toast is from Jack Sprat (Sprouted Wheat bread by Clinton's) and I'd have to go to Smith's to get it every once in awhile. Loved it also with cottage cheese on it with salt and pepper and a few drops of hot sauce spread around when I could tolerate it, or with egg salad.
Had been mostly vegetarian before treatment, but found I did OK with eggs, chicken and fish while on chemo. Have cut back some now.
My oncologist stressed keeping protein in my stomach, small amounts every 2 hours (even just a handful of raw nuts if I couldn't handle anything else), and lots of water. She told me that I should not lose weight during the treatment process, as maintaining weight was one of the ways they tracked how well one was faring in the process. Of course now she wants me to lose 50 pounds, and even at 900 calories a day I am not losing anything...but tamoxafin makes most women gain weight, so I feel OK staying the same. She says research shows that women that develop breast cancer have had low Vit D, so blood tests for that every visit.
Congrats to your friend for being in remission for 2 years! That's great!
Most foods made me queasy just looking at them or smelling them. I drank a lot of smoothies though. The foods I did it most of the time were not all that healthy. For some reason, corndogs and bacon were what I wanted.
When I saw my doc earlier this week, he got on me for gaining 20 pounds. I too don't eat all that much but I'm on tamoxiphen. I hate the weight gain but don't know what to do about it now either.
I like reading threads like this. Honestly, the threads here as of late have been exceptional and hopefully useful down the road to those who are facing the big nasty cancer.
As much as I hate seeing people going through cancer the people who are participating are those who are firsthand witness’ or cancer patients, they are making the whole ordeal livable and a great resource. This is way of paying it forward. It became a personal goal after coming to terms with the disease to help those who are facing treatment and to help them adapt after treatment.
It is far better than the threads that degrade due to stupidity of some who think that apricot seeds are a cure or that the cure is out there, despite medical and scientific evidence that is repeatedly contradictory. The conspiracy theories not appropriate here. Threads that help those with cancer or family facing cancer are very apposite in this section.
I told them I was a vegetarian during the admitting process, so my first real meal after the surgery was a big plate of raw broccoli, sliced boiled eggs, cubed cheese, sliced cucumbers and carrot sticks, with ranch dressing. It was the best meal I ever had in my life. Not vegan, but that's okay.
My mother was in the hospital with a colon blockage and the first meal they gave her was pork chops!! I was so mad you could see steam coming out of my ears.
After reading somewhere that there are studies which indicate that sugar feeds cancer (so to speak), I'm going to cut it completely out, if I can. Well, I will. It's just not worth it. Not easy though; like a lot of people, especially from the southern cultures, I grew up on biscuits & gravy, peach cobbler, and lots of other stuff which was pure and homegrown then, but is impure and dangerous, now, I suspect.
I like reading threads like this. Honestly, the threads here as of late have been exceptional and hopefully useful down the road to those who are facing the big nasty cancer.
As much as I hate seeing people going through cancer the people who are participating are those who are firsthand witness’ or cancer patients, they are making the whole ordeal livable and a great resource. This is way of paying it forward. It became a personal goal after coming to terms with the disease to help those who are facing treatment and to help them adapt after treatment.
It is far better than the threads that degrade due to stupidity of some who think that apricot seeds are a cure or that the cure is out there, despite medical and scientific evidence that is repeatedly contradictory. The conspiracy theories not appropriate here. Threads that help those with cancer or family facing cancer are very apposite in this section.
Thank you!
I second your thank-you, wholeheartedly. I'm one of the lucky ones, it looks like; not breast cancer, not six tumors, not year-long chemo, no radiation. Because of the people here and the books I'm reading, as well as the people locally i'm interacting with, I've made a conscious decision to be brave, to live, to beat it, to stop feeling sorry for myself. And maybe I can help someone else down the line.
I'll tell you one thing; it has really gotten my butt in gear. No more thinking I have all the time in the world to do the things that my heart leads me to do.
I told them I was a vegetarian during the admitting process, so my first real meal after the surgery was a big plate of raw broccoli, sliced boiled eggs, cubed cheese, sliced cucumbers and carrot sticks, with ranch dressing. It was the best meal I ever had in my life. Not vegan, but that's okay.
My mother was in the hospital with a colon blockage and the first meal they gave her was pork chops!! I was so mad you could see steam coming out of my ears.
After reading somewhere that there are studies which indicate that sugar feeds cancer (so to speak), I'm going to cut it completely out, if I can. Well, I will. It's just not worth it. Not easy though; like a lot of people, especially from the southern cultures, I grew up on biscuits & gravy, peach cobbler, and lots of other stuff which was pure and homegrown then, but is impure and dangerous, now, I suspect.
Limit sugar intake. The body still requires surgars to survive. It also feeds healthy cells.
Most of that sounds perfectly disgusting to me, but hey, to each his own.
My appetite has been pretty good through chemo. I have a few days each cycle where I prefer foods that are either very simple and bland (ex. soups, rice) or very spice (ex. Mexican). Meat is not very appealing, especially beef, on those days. Soft foods with lots of gravy is good. This cycle water tasted bad but I found that if I drink bottled water with lots of ice and a slice of lemon, that is okay. Ginger ale is okay too.
I lived on pudding cups and protein shakes and fruit cups. I felt good after eating them. They were easy on the tummy.
I lived on rice pudding, chicken salad, ice cream and french toast. Between those goodies, the complete lack of exercise, and more steroids than Barry Bonds' locker, I ended up over 300 pounds. Enter Weight Watchers!
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