Appetite During Chemo

[TheJohansenFami]

Good Morning everyone!! hope we all had a lovely sleep over night (extra hour thanks to day light saving ending) :) I would just like to know, your thoughts and experiences, on your appetite during Chemotherapy. Mum and i have found that my little brother (Josh) has an appetite for very salty things. Mashed potato with about 4 teaspoons of salt is his favourite at the moment. When he started chemo for the first time a few years ago, he had never ever eaten a piece of fruit, and to this day, still hasn't. What types of food have you lost interest in while undergoing chemo?? And did you find your appetite had changed after chemo?? Any Favourtie foods during chemo?? Thankyou guys!! Prayers and Thoughts with you all, The Johansen Family :)

[#2]

Hello to the Johansen family and welcome to the community. I've just seen your blog posts and I wanted to send my best wishes to little Josh and your whole family. Looking forward to reading your updates. Louisa

[Louise_E]

My friend experienced a major loss of appetite today and that's without even starting chemo again. He's usually been able to enjoy his favourites and because he lost many kgs he was told to eat as much as he could of anything he wanted - pies, custards, sweets play a major part. He has hospital Sustagen powder and will try that today. Maybe cooked apples, mashed potato....whatever appeals. On chemo he got mouth ulcers and could hardly manage eating then, tho ratanhia mouthwash helped. Appetite seems to be a day-to-day thing. Good luck to Josh and your family too.

[anniem]

There are so many different types of chemo and so many different side effects. The person I was caring for changed all the time, however some consistent things were plain steamed Basmati rice, clear homemade chicken broth drunk in small amounts all day, clean fresh tasting things and salty potato chips. Sometimes if mouth ulcers are present then yoghurt, jelly and again clear broths are good. Also ice blocks like Frosty Fruits were always good although the sweetness was sometimes too much. Welcome to your family Cheers, Mags

[artist_in_recov]

Hi, When I was having chemotherapy, I found that when I did have enough of an appetite to eat and my mouth wasn't too sore with mucositis, everything tasted like flour - which didn't interst me much,so I drank those Sustagen poppas however, when I started on steroids as part of the treatment protocol, my appetite grew and I wanted to eat anything and everything ! Go with it, if he feels like eating, that's a good thing, stock him up, even fats and sugars are ok if that's all he feels like eating - I lived on Haagendas for two weeks at one stage (now, I can't even look at the stuff!) I remember the nurses told me to eat whenever I wanted to and whatever I wanted to eat because chances were I wouldn't feel like eating for days afterwards. Good luck, my thoughts and prayers are with Josh and you all.

[artist_in_recov]

Ooooh, I forgot to add that one of my absolute favourite foods when on chemo was that really mushie Blue cow cheese that comes in a reound with little triangles in it - I'm not sure if we have it in Australia (I was in the UK for my treatment) - and also flour tortillas with refried bean mix and salad. Twisties were another favourite - but be careful on overdoing it, because all of the foods I gorged on during chemo I can't eat now - they make me feel sick now. I suggest if you ever want to enjoy that food again, go easy on it while having chemo.

[TheJohansenFami]

Thankyou so much everyone, for such a big response!! Yesterday we were in oncology for a check up and a finger prick. We took home some Bactrim / Resprim tablets that are able to be crushed up and put into food or drink. This is amazing because we can never get Josh to swallow medicine, or even panadol. Another amazing thing is... Ondanzatron ( i think thats how u spell it) is now available in tiny "wafers". all you do is drop it on his tongue, and it disappears in mili seconds!! All these amazing new medicines now... imagine what could happen in the future!!!

[anniem]

Thats great. Isnt it exciting when things like this happen. Yes, treatment etc is evolving so much. How things have changed in 5 years. Good luck with everything and my warmest wishes for the easter break.