What to feed my Capt'n Chemo (when he can't stomach anything)??

[SnapAddict218]

Question here, since I know there are some people that have first hand experience. Sorry if I accidentally gross anyone out! My boyfriend is ridiculously sick with this round of chemo. Since we brought him home on Monday he has been violently ill...from both ends. Several times during the night we're up together while he's being sick, and anytime he eats anything it [rather brutally] doesn't stay put. Nothing will stay down-even water is iffy. He's eaten next to nothing since he started getting sick while in the hospital. All he will consider eating at this point is that Mrs. Grass's chicken soup. While it IS the shizzle, and so, so good, it has virtually no nutritional value. I tried to feed him some Progresso lite soup yesterday, since it had things in it (noodles, beef, veggies) but he only got through half a small bowl before he refused it. I'm concerned about him not getting enough nutrients and/or becoming dehydrated. He has blood work done 3 times a week, and I wonder if they would be able to tell if he was dehydrated at all? Surely they would, right? Occasionally he'll need a couple of bags of blood, and they push fluids at that time-otherwise they don't.

Anyone have any suggestions on what to feed him where he'll get the maximum benefit before he tosses it back? I thought about those Ensure drinks, or those Carnation Instant Breakfasts. Either way, by the time this is all over, he's going to despise whatever it is I'm giving him. What would you guys recommend? Regarding hydration, I'm hesitant to give him Gatorade because it's higher in sugar and Pedialite seems like better alternative. Again, any suggestions?

Eventually this will all pass, but until then he needs something in his body to fuel it. I'm just so worried about this-on top of everything! Ga!! Thanks for your suggestions people!

[AdminAssistant]

I'd say the first thing you should do is put in a call to his oncologist, since he/she should know what kind of reaction your bf is having to the chemo. The nurse might have some suggestions of something the bf would be able to stomach.

[SnapAddict218]

He's going in today with instructions to ask just that. (I can't always be there cuz I'm at work)

I'm wondering if he should be this sick period. Guess we'll find out.

[Red_Dazes]

....Peanut butter.... Tastes the same going down as it does coming up... plus its better for you than nothing at all.

...I don't know if it will help him...but when I had the flu when I was younger I couldn't keep anything down for almost a month... so my mom made me eat LOTS of Peanut butter.....



Definitely talk to the doctors though. When my sis had chemo, they gave her something to help with the sick.... didn't do AMAZING. but it helped.

[calulu]

Having gone through chemo more than once I have to say that the doctor needs to be aware that he cannot keep anything down. They can give him something for that. Several good drugs to combat the stomach reaction.

Usually I live on nut butters, toast, poached eggs on toast, jello and applesauce when I'm on chemo. If you're keeping next to nothing down there's nothing wrong with a few sips of Gatorade regardless of the sugar.

[Fire_on_High]

I've heard grape juice is usually pretty well tolerated too.

[fireheart]

So is chicken to an extent. (I remember reading a customer compliment about how her son had chemo, he could only stomach the chicken that we cooked and we were more than happy to cut it up into pieces for him.)

But yeah, I'd agree with getting a call to the oncologist.

[trailerparkmedic]

When I was very sick and couldn't keep water down, I could drink Gatorade. They have a version with less sugar now (G2, I think?) if you're concerned about that.

When my godmother went through chemo, she lived on milkshakes. Not the healthiest thing, but it kept some weight on her. She also snacked every couple of hours instead of eating big meals.

You could also try making smoothies to get some "real" food into him. Frozen fruit works well for this and isn't as expensive as some of the fresh fruit this time of year. Have you tried some of the meal in a can drinks, like Slimfast, Ensure or Carnation Instant Breakfast?

[AdminAssistant]

I remember Mom could eat most things, but she couldn't use metal silverware for some reason. Chemo is a nasty nasty bugger, Mom had at least one real bad nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized for a while because her white blood cell count bottomed out.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

....Peanut butter.... Tastes the same going down as it does coming up... plus its better for you than nothing at all.

I'd say the same thing about bananas. They also supply potassium which can be lost in the both-end spewage.

I drank a lot of Gatorade during my recent bout with H1N1, just in case I got pukey or the shits, but that never really happened.

[Primer]

Power-Ade has more in the way of electrolytes than does Gatorade. Read the labels! Gatorade is just sugar and water these days. But if he can keep any Gatorade down, that would be better than nothing. I second trying Pedialyte, too Good luck!

[AccountingDrone]

Definitely get him an antiemetic, phenergan works. Suppositories or patch are great when you just throw up the pills...

When I did chemo, I grazed all day when I could manage it. Ice cold water, lots of ice tasted the best to me. ice cold cut up fruit - mandarin orange slices, seedless grapes, deseeded watermelon, cantaloupe, and pineapple chunks.

poached egg on toast, chicken noodle soup, and occasionally scrambled eggs when I felt up to it.

I also did the occasional ginger ale, candied ginger and peppermints.

I found I overheated easily, which is probably why I craved ice cold stuff...

[MaggieTheCat]

I've never been so sick that I couldn't keep anything down, but here are some suggestions I've heard over the years from friends/relatives (note: none of them had chemo, so this is all flu/morning sickness experiences)

Plain soda/saltine crackers
Plain oatmeal made with water and nothing added to it (unless he feels he can stomach milk or other toppings)
Jell-O (sugar-free if you're concerned about that, it will at least help keep him hydrated)
Ginger-flavored drinks, like ginger ale (although most store-bought stuff has a lot of sugar and little to no actual ginger...still might help, even store bought ginger ale helps me if my stomach is upset)
Tea (ginger tea might be good if you can find it)

I hope he feels better soon!

[calulu]

I found I overheated easily, which is probably why I craved ice cold stuff...

Amen! I would get overheated too. Not only that but after some time parts of the skin on the soles of my feet started sloughing off. The soles got very red, hot and tender because of the drugs leaving through the permeable skin on the feet. I used to keep a container of Utterly Smooth shea butter in the freezer and when the feet started bugging me I'd put the ice cold cream on them and fluffy spa socks. Helped with the overheating too.

[freeatlast]

When my Mom had chemo, they gave her drugs before starting the chemo and then would give her IV fluids for 1/2 an hour before starting the chemo drugs. She was never sick from it. She didn't have much appetite, but just ate the foods that appealed to her. She did get dehydrated and they actually skipped the chemo that week and just gave her IVs to rehydrate her. After that, they made a point of bringing her a huge cup of ice water during her treatment and they also told her to avoid caffeine because it dehydrates you.