My mother was recently diagnosed with throat cancer, and will soon undergo the six weeks of radiotherapy (bad enough, although thankfully no chemo on top).
Treatment will start soon, and in the weeks prior to treatment she has been taking some actions - cutting out all PUFA, taking some aspirin, niacinamide, b-vitamins, liver etc to try and support her now and into treatment.
The concern I have now is good nutrition during treatment. It's pretty much certain than saliva production will temporarily stop at some point during treatment, mouth aperture will reduce, ability to chew will be restricted, etc. She needs to maintain weight (for the fit of the mask), but also good nutrition to support immune system, and help stave off some of the damage done by the radiotherapy. My worry is what kind of things we will consistently be able to prepare for her, that will support immune system, that she is physically capable to eat.
We have prepared chicken liver in almost liquid form, with a kind of tomato sauce, and hopefully she can eat/drink that. I wondered about milk, orange juice, even melted ice cream in the case that chewing and swallowing get difficult. However I have read that some people undergoing treatment can have a complete aversion to sweet things due to sensitivity of teeth during the treatment, so trying to have as many options as possible.
My question was primarily if anyone had any experience of this with friends / family, and knew options which might work? Or. secondarily, even if no experience, and suggestions for what would be good and workable during such treatment?
The health service backup option is 'nutrition' delivered via a pipe through the nose, or alternatively punched directly into the stomach. Physically would prefer to avoid those if possible, but primarily becuase the main ingredient of the "nutritional food" is 'blend of vegetable oils! :-( I presume she will already have a suppessed immune system at some point due to morphine, then radiation - adding PUFAs as primary source of calories I'm really hoping to avoid.
Treatment will start soon, and in the weeks prior to treatment she has been taking some actions - cutting out all PUFA, taking some aspirin, niacinamide, b-vitamins, liver etc to try and support her now and into treatment.
The concern I have now is good nutrition during treatment. It's pretty much certain than saliva production will temporarily stop at some point during treatment, mouth aperture will reduce, ability to chew will be restricted, etc. She needs to maintain weight (for the fit of the mask), but also good nutrition to support immune system, and help stave off some of the damage done by the radiotherapy. My worry is what kind of things we will consistently be able to prepare for her, that will support immune system, that she is physically capable to eat.
We have prepared chicken liver in almost liquid form, with a kind of tomato sauce, and hopefully she can eat/drink that. I wondered about milk, orange juice, even melted ice cream in the case that chewing and swallowing get difficult. However I have read that some people undergoing treatment can have a complete aversion to sweet things due to sensitivity of teeth during the treatment, so trying to have as many options as possible.
My question was primarily if anyone had any experience of this with friends / family, and knew options which might work? Or. secondarily, even if no experience, and suggestions for what would be good and workable during such treatment?
The health service backup option is 'nutrition' delivered via a pipe through the nose, or alternatively punched directly into the stomach. Physically would prefer to avoid those if possible, but primarily becuase the main ingredient of the "nutritional food" is 'blend of vegetable oils! :-( I presume she will already have a suppessed immune system at some point due to morphine, then radiation - adding PUFAs as primary source of calories I'm really hoping to avoid.
