I am scratching my head over this one. As most of you are aware I am taking care of my BFF while she under goes chemotherapy. After have major abdominal surgery 1 month ago, it was found that most of the cancer could not be removed at that point. Thus, her Onc suggested 6 cycles of carbo/taxol to hopefully shrink the existing (many) tumors to large to presently remove safely. Happy to say that as of her first chemo treatment 4 days ago all went smoothly. As of yesterday, and today she has not yet had a bowel movement (is taking iron tabs 2x daily, drinking lots of water, and a stool softener 2x a day as well). She shares with me that she has pain in her stomach (saying it is not a gas type of pain) but she feels "it's the chemo working on killing the cancer." She also says she is not interested in eating the foods she bought - since it isn't appealing nor tasty. I told her that it is expected that her taste buds might be changing.
So, I asked her what would you like for me to bring you for dinner tonight? She then tells me she wants a Chili cheese hamburger with chili cheese fries!!!! OMG - I said Whoa! I don't know if that is the best thing for you to eat right now..especially since you are experiencing pain in your tummy...Was I wrong to tell her that? I've heard it said to let her just eat anything she desires...but this is a tough one for me as I know consuming that would not relieve her pain but more than likely increase it. Am I wrong??
I would greatly appreciate ANY REPLY you could give me, as I will see her this evening. Thank you Ladies!
Linda xo
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This just came through so I expect you will have delivered a 'dinner' of some sort - intrigued to know what!
When my taste went my appetite plummeted, but no way I could eat that kind of a meal even though I realise that stronger tastes of sweet and salty are appealing to get beyond the bland and metallic.
The abdomen area is difficult to assess where the pains are and what it means, positive to think its killing the blighters but if she hasn't had a bowel motion in several days she needs to up the stool softners and probably add movicol or something similar to the mix. However I would say don't 'over fibre' the diet and aim for gentle foods for the time being if possible ...
Iron tablets will only add to the constipation levels ( docs or her idea?) - I drank lots of fizzy Vit C drink and plenty of nourishing soups, especially chicken!
Just found a great link about how foods affect taste and good foods to eat. Out of a LIfeKitchen link someone posted earlier this week...
Thank you dear friend. I have not yet gone over to her place and will update you on what she decides to eat. It's looking more like the request has changed to a baked small potato with butter and a well cooked (no blood in it) hamburger, and some avocado.
Linda xo
I would think at this stage her appetite and taste buds have changed and this is usual, I have never heard of anyone on iron tablets with chemo, surely that would worsen the constipation, I am no doctor but it might be an idea to check this with her team. Yes plenty of movicol or senna to get those bowels moving and plenty of water or flat minerals are also good. Prunes in Juice is another option,
Husband had procedure to kill cancer in esophagus when PDT first came out. He couldn't hold anything down , even a scrambled egg. So after 4 weeks of this he asks me to go to Applebee's and get him a french onion soup. Whoa, I thought, that's so caustic but got it anyway. He sucked it down and was right as rain afterwards. The body knows what it needs. She may only take 2 bites but it just may be what she needs.
Along with prune juice, add 2 tbs. of milk of magnesia. Old hospital remedy. I second the iron as a constipator [I made that word up]. Glycerin suppositories help too. After 14 months of constipation I think I tried everything in the world. It's so difficult to live with.
steroids + chemo does strange things.... I lived on bagels with smoked salmon, cream cheese, butter, mayo and about an inch of gherkins but would also have powerful hankerings from time to time for very random things!
There's quite a few threads about constipation and various things that may help- if you use the search box,( top right ) you may find some tips.
As Eileen says, its best to just go with what might feel right... until it doesn't and then go with something else! Everyone has to find their own way through.
I wish you luck finding your way around the crazy way chemo effects the appetite. I only had a slight appetite for one week out of four during my 6 month treatments. I could only eat cottage cheese, bananas, baked potatoes, and scrambled eggs. During the one week I wanted to eat, I wanted things like spaghetti and meatballs and Spanish rice. Needless to say that was rejected quickly by my body.. I ended up living on Protein drinks so my weight wouldn't keep falling.
I do recommend sticking to light and blander foods. As for the constipation I would not let it go more than 3 days before I resorted to Milk of Magnesia. I was terrified of bowel blockage and monitored my BMs like they were lottery numbers.
Good luck! Be sure to consult a Dr or nurse if the constipation goes on to long.
You say she had surgery a month ago - I was told to eat a low fibre diet only for 6 weeks after the surgery because they cut out some bowel. (You don't say whether she had some bowel removed though). It didn't help with constipation, but 2 sachets of movicol a day did. As for chemo, I agree with what most others say - if she wants to eat, I don't know, avocado with curry sauce, let her try it, because the difficulty with chemo is having any appetite at all, and at this stage, anything's better than nothing in terms of food...
Thank you. The nurse said today it was okay to stop taking her iron pills 2 x a day since her Hemoglobin is high enough. Why didn't they tell us that before? She would not suffered so much with constipation. Thank you for sharing. I am grateful and wish you the best!
How galling they didn't say before - worse is that they were probably giving her ferrous sulphate supplements, which are known to cause constipation - there are other forms of iron that don't cause constipation, but they're not so potent and need to be taken for longer. Still better than having bad constipation though... hopefully the constipation will clear now the tablets have been stopped.
If she wants it, let her have it, this cancer ride is rubbish enough to not have nice things along the way and anything that makes it easier and a tad more bearable can only be a good thing. Her appetite will be off the mark for a while so anything that she enjoys she must have and the 🌶 sauce could help her move her bowels a little? Her tummy pains may possibly be because she needs to move? But if they continue she should speak with her doctor.
Iron tablets will are most certainly a contributing factor to the constipation but she obviously needs to have them, the last thing she needs at this point is anaemia, the fatigue from the surgery and chemo are enough for anybody and anaemia will only make that worse so she needs to take the iron and possibly needs a little extra help with bowel movements. Maybe speak with her team for advice?
Keep caring for her, your care and support is so valued and she does appreciate it. Big gentle hugs to you both ❤️Xx Jane
Your words of wisdom are gratefully received and heard. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing yours. I agree with all that you said. She is the kindest, sweetest most gentle person I have ever known. I will do anything within my power to help her every step of the way. As a good friend of mine shared: I do it onto Jesus.
Be well, be strong, and I love the way to think.
Always your friend - never a distance between hearts.
With all the metal taste from the chemo, the only things i could really taste were mustard and pickles. So go for it. If she has an apetite and requests it all is good.
You are such a good friend, when I was on that chemo I had pains which I thought was the chemo killing the cancer I even asked my oncologist who wouldn’t confirm it but I’m convinced it was. I also lost my taste & appetite but if I did have s craving I ate it whatever it was so if that is what your friend fancies get it for her she may only eat a small amount but that’s fine to. My husband worried so much because I just wasn’t eating but I survived & Trudy me a few mouthfuls of something you fancy is amazing.
Yes, you are so right. Her eyes lit up so bright when I brought in that cheeseburger, Although she only ate a few of the fries she liked it so much. Now, constipation is a big issue - having challenges with that and taking everything prescribed to help " move things along" is what were hoping for today. They said since her Hemoglobin is so high she doesn't have to keep taking the iron tables (2x a day) any longer.
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