Cancer tips: Healthy Eating

One of my earliest cancer concerns was nutrition, and the fear that I was going to lose even more weight than I already had. I had sunk from a healthy 133 to a skinny 115 (I am 5’5”). Not to mention that all of my clothes were falling off me and I could not afford to buy new ones, I hadn’t even had my surgery yet, and it was going to be followed by both chemotherapy and radiation.

Most hospitals have a dietician on staff, and the ones who work with cancer patients are especially kind and caring, in my experience. Some cancer patients will lose weight, and others will gain. It isn’t even determined by which meds you are on. As I will frequently mention, each of us has our own combination of side effects from these miraculous drugs that help us combat breast cancer.

The Canada Food Guide had always intimidated me for one reason: the number of portions they mentioned seemed huge. How could any one eat 5 servings of grain, 5 servings of veggies and fruit, 3 servings of milk products, and 2 or 3 servings of meat all in one day? At the tender age of 47, I learned about food portion size, and suddenly it seemed do-able. The lists that follow outline correct portion size, and make it easy to see how you can snack all day, or create light meals, while maintaining a healthy balance of veggies, carbohydrates and protein.

Grains: 5 servings daily such as:
1 slice of bread, ½ bagel, ½ pita, ½ cup rice, ½ cup pasta, ¾ cup cereal.

Fruit: 5 servings daily such as:
1 apple, 1 orange, 1 banana, 1 carrot, 1 potato, ½ cup of your favourite vegetable (corn, peas, broccoli), 1 cup leafy green veggies, ½ cup veggie juice.

Milk: 3 or more servings daily such as:
1-cup milk, ¾ cup yogourt, 2 oz cheese or cottage cheese.

Meat: 2-3 servings daily such as:
3 ounces of meat or fish or poultry, ½ - 1 cup legumes, 2 eggs, 3-4 tablespoons of nuts or seeds.

When you undergo chemotherapy, your body needs more than its usual number of calories, because it needs not only to be maintained but also to be repaired. Plan to have three meals a day and also three healthy snacks. Keep track of which food groups you are covering with your meals, and then make up any shortfalls from your food plan in your choice of snacks.

As your chemotherapy progresses, you may experience problems with your gums, and nothing can make you more miserable than not being able to enjoy eating. Chances are, your usual repertoire of recipes or snack choices is going to have to change for a while. But remember, your body needs the proper nutrients in order to heal itself, and you can find those nutrients in a variety of foods. You need to remind yourself that your experience of chemotherapy can be greatly eased if you make intelligent food choices. For more on this subject, please refer to the chapter in this handbook, entitled “Chemotherapy and Caring for Your Mouth.”Some foods are easier on the mouth than others. Here are a few to spark your imagination:

Bananas, watermelon, milk, carrot juice, yogourt, pudding, Jello, ice cream, frozen yogourt, creamed soups, pea soup, cottage cheese, cream of wheat, cold cereal soaked in milk, sherbet, baby food, smoothies, scrambled eggs, steamed veggies, rice pudding.
As fate would have it, over the course of the next few months, I slowly worked my way back up to a normal weight. When my mouth was not sore, I ate stews, homemade soups, baked potatoes smothered in butter or sour cream, shepherd’s pie, and lots of milkshakes. I appreciated “comfort food” like never before.

Starting in early 2008, I will be creating a sister site for this web site, which will deal with simple, nutritious recipes. Your own suggestions for eating while undergoing cancer treatment would be really appreciated, so please take the time to email me anything (tips, recipes, etc...) you would like to share!

Legal Stuff

Resources

I have been so grateful to have had access to web-based support groups and to breast cancer information. Here's a list of Web Resources that helped me. If you know of other good ones, please e-mail me and I will add them to the list.

Wonderful Books

Here's a short list of books that I found helpful after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. As soon as I can I'll add to the list and I'll post some reviews, as well.

Walk-a-thon 2007

Every year, the Weekend to End Breast Cancer http://www.endcancer.ca raises tens of millions of dollars for breast cancer research, in several major cities across the country. Within each participating city, a carefully selected hospital receives valuable funding for research and facilities. Each Walker raises a minimum of $2000 for the privilege of walking 60 kilometres over a two-day weekend. Thousands of volunteers across the country donate their time, not only on the days of the event, but also on days training for their part in it. I made this Walk in 2005, not even a year after my treatment, volunteered in 2006 and have done so again for 2007.

I strongly urge you to become involved with this event or others like it. They are enormously uplifting, and you will come away with great memories etched into your heart. With each donation from my sponsors, I wondered if this could be the money that would fund a cure, because I do believe that we will find a cure.