Help with nausea

I'm back with questions....mom was dx the end of March. She had 7 weekly rounds of chemo
carbo/taxol and 35 daily radiation treatments. She did
so great during the first 5 1/2 - 6 weeks. The last
week seemed to really take its toll. It got alot harder
for her to eat, and when the doctor suggested a feeding tube, she said no way and found a way to get some substance down. Now that treatment is over,
6/15, and we are in a waiting stage, she is still having
difficulty. She can't swallow hard, chewy foods, and
has resolved to applesauce, pudding, soft substances. Since treatment stopped the nausea has
gotten worse, and even smells of foods make her ill.
She'll take two bites of applesauce, throw up and have dry heaves. She continues to drink lots of water, suck on ice chips, but the nutrient value is not there in the little bit of substance she is eating. She seems even more tired as well. I bought her some peaches (Gerber baby food) to see if that helped. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I thought maybe this was a phase that would only last a couple
days after her scheduled treatments were over, but it
has been a week and a half now. She doesn't like ensure, even tried Publix brand, I don't know what else to try.

By debra1
Posted June 25, 2009 at 2:28 pm
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It can take longer to get the swallowing back to normal. Your Dr. shoud have meds for the nausea, call them and ask. Swallowing was a problem with me with radiation. I had lots of Milk Shakes, Icees, mac & cheese, jello..........all soft foods and colder was better.
Just keep trying things and they also have meds that will numb her throat....a magic mouthwash but I hated it.

By pw
Posted June 25, 2009 at 3:31 pm
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Absolutely see if you can get a pill for the nausea. compazine and Kytril worked the best for my husband. Those treatments sometime can have a cummulative effect where your body seems ok with the first few doses and then it creeps up on you. I think though if she has the nausea pills that may help her appetite as well. Try all soft stuff but also I make Ensure shakes for my husband with half a chocolate ensure, 1/2 cup of ice bream and 1/2 cup of milk and he loves them. He doesnt seem to mind the taste of the Ensure (I think theyre horrid) but by adding the other stuff, it masks the taste. Good luck!!

By cuddles53
Posted June 25, 2009 at 5:15 pm
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It does all have cumulative effects on the body, and is still working killing those cancer cells, her own good cells now have to come back, and this is the reason for such weakness, try the drinks and thick shakes, and anything and everything she can keep down, it will come back, taste buds and all, but it does take so much time to do that. If she has gotten this far and made it, it is no time to be giving up now, the hardest thing in the world is to live through what she went through, but she did it, she made it. Now the work begins to heal. Patience is a must, small mouthfuls at a time is fine you can not force anything as you see she will only vomit, try and get some compazine from the doc if this does not work get something else for the nausea. Tell her she made it, now we have to heal all of her cells.
I am not a believer in giving foods and drinks and trying to mask the taste of it, I think it makes a person feel sicker doing that. I think the best way is to let her decide what she is in the mood for, for all meals, some things actually will sound better than others and not necessarily things like ice cream. Ice cream has always been my favorite food, but not with chemo. I like 2 boiled eggs and one slice of buttered toast, that for some reason tasted okay to me, other than that it all tasted like cardboard boxes, so if it is something she is in the mood for get it for her, let her try all kinds of foods, baby food I can understand so you can get her some nutrition but it hardly tastes too good except the fruit and desserts! Sometimes a simple cold sandwich and a cup of soup also is good, not too overwhelming, it is best to keep the plates simple and not much food on them, to much will only turn her off of it. always keep in mind what you yourself would want when you feel ill like the flu bug. Most of the time it is things like jello, pudding, soup, small sansdwiches, I am a nurse and have seen many nursing staff make themselves feel better offering things like ensure with fruits in it, the person knows what it is they aren't fooled and it tastes like CRAP, so don't bother trying to fool anyone it is only yourself you are kidding thinking baby food and ice cream are the nutritious foods we cancer patients need. Believe it or not, she will know what her body craves. You sound very concerned and I bet are a big help, so ask her what she is in the mood for, and make it small, another suggestion that is light and airy andpeople food, cottage cheese with a few slices ofpear otr apple or peaches. Try these suggestions and see if I am right.
Take care, and god bless./
Sandy

By klcovert
Posted June 25, 2009 at 6:25 pm
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Thanks for the support. I just went next door to check on mom, she spoke with the doctors office this afternoon, they want her to come in and have an iv
tomorrow. She doesn't want to go, but I told her that
it might help her feel alittle better, and help her
rest through the long weekend. I think she's afraid they will want to put in a feeding tube, so she tried to
eat her dinner. She had mashed potatoes with gravy,
and to watch her try to take small bites and then watch
her in pain at her chest/esophagus was sooo hard.
I wish I could help,,,,,,

By Marylou1
Posted June 25, 2009 at 9:08 pm
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It might be a good idea to try the milkshake idea given above with some ice cream in it. It does mask the Ensure taste. You can add a lot of things to it to mask it. Pull out the old blender. I know it helped me with my dad.
Good Luck and God Bless,
Marylou

By iahawk97
Posted June 25, 2009 at 9:19 pm
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I second the Kytril. Mom's first round of chemo was with simultaneous radiation and that made it really hard to swallow a lot of the time. Took a good 5 months after the radiation for mom to be able to swallow fairly normally. She got scripts for Emend during chemo and kytril afterward. She took the Kytril for a few weeks even after the chemo part was over. It definitely didn't hurt. She also had that magic mouthwash stuff too that helped - Numbed her throat enough that she was able to swallow. At one point she choked on a piece of beef lo mein and had to take a swig of canola oil to get it down - We giggle (a little bit) about it now because she's OK, but it was a rough go for a while.

Hang in there - It gets better - but in baby steps.

By sunshine2gal
Posted June 25, 2009 at 11:31 pm
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Do you have a Smoothie King chain there? My mother really likes the strawberry "The Hulk". It is like 950 calories for a 20 oz. drink and has other nutrients and things in it. I heard it was designed for chemo patients AND body builders to help keep weight on. My mom says they are soothing for her when she is nauseous.

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