My Friends

I did some looking and found some solutions she could try. Syrup being one. She had French toast with syrup and could eat that. She said today wasn't as bad as yesterday and she ate supper. Hopefully this is something that maybe lasts a day or two in the cycle and she can eat normally at other times.

I can relate some. After my surgery three years ago I couldn't eat either. The food was the absolute worst. I was losing a lot of weight. So I started eating ice cream, salads and fruit. Turns out the food was bad because it was bad. It was heart healthy food. So once I got out of the hospital I was fine. I didn't find this out until I had to go back into the hospital a month later and they wanted me to eat and I said no and told them why. That's when they laughed and said I was on a normal menu now. That was nothing really, I could just change food. She is stuck with this.

Meds do funky stuff to you. I'm on a combination, primarily for plaque psoriasis, that leaves me sitting at the table, scratching my head, having no desire to eat, even as my stomach growls. At lunch time at work I can't for the life of me figure out where to go for lunch. I just have to eat the amount required to keep me alive.

You have to think in terms of hiking or strong physical exercise. When I've spent the day on a long mountain hike I often find myself completely unable to face the food I planned for myself and often must use another day's ration.

At breakfast sometimes eggs make me nauseated but cereal (sweetened with Splenda) beckons. I have to eat the eggs anyway because they are a protein source and as a diabetic I can't eat carbs without protein to slow the release of calories.

Find a path that she can tolerate and we'll keep praying.

Bob

When I had Covid in Dec '20, I completely lost my sense of taste and lived on Ensure for 2 weeks. It's ~ 250 calories per drink, comes in 3 flavors and I actually liked it. Still lost 15 lbs during that time...

Russ

The taste situation is rather bizarre. It appears to have come back to near normal today. I only had a small job this morning and she went along with me so we could to other things afterwards. Our food choices were limited in the town we were in and we were stuck there because I was waiting on a background check on a Ross MKII project rifle. She picked Taco Bell because she and I figured the little bit of spiciness of the food would be of benefit. I didn't want her to order something she couldn't eat so I asked the woman taking our order if she could have a spoonful of meat before we ordered. I did tell her why and she didn't hesitate and got her a small bowl of it. She liked it so we ordered and she ate most of the meal. Turns out the woman's mother had chemo and knew exactly what we were talking about.

She was also able to eat a small meal she picked out, tater tots and beefy cheese or something like that and she just told me ginger ale tasted like ginger ail again so maybe this will be a two day a week event. Treatment day one, normal, day two normal, day three nothing tastes edible, day four can eat but it tastes bad and day five back to near normal. I guess we'll find out as this goes forward.

She can stand to lose some weight but not so much she doesn't have strength to function.

You might want to research salvestrols and their anti-cancer effect, as well as what foods they can be found in.

Someone won the Nobel Prize for demonstrating that cancer cells feed on sugars so soft drinks are not exactly beneficial.

Two steps forward, one back. We weren't expecting anything today, she just had to go do her bloodwork for chemo tomorrow. The doctor was waiting for her with news from Johns Hopkins. They do not like what they found. I don't think they know what they found. They want to do a battery of consults with her. It may be a one time thing, it may be an annual screening, we don't know. It is NOT cancer but could become cancer. So it's another round of trying to get approvals for testing something unknown. Supposedly, they found her test results from 13 years ago. Johns Hopkins might have had them. They said something has changed from then but were not specific what. Fatty liver can lead to this condition they said yet our oncologist has never heard of it. All pretty bizarre.

He was pleased with the results of her first chemo treatment and said he already notices an improvement. So that's good. Chemo also continues so that also is good.

She has not lost her sense of taste this week. Indigestion is not as bad either. The tumor feels softer and is hurting hopefully this means it is being killed.

The potential progression of hepatic steatosis (fatty liver) can be NASH or non alcoholic sclerosing hepatitis. Essentially the liver becomes cirrhotic due to scarring.

That being said I don't think it would be seen as an exotic or puzzling finding so it may not be the case.

But ready seeing improvement from the chemo is great to hear.

I spent Monday through this afternoon out of town. When I got home today, she was all excited and wanted me to look at her breast and feel it. The tumor is now soft and about half the size of its max after just three treatments. The bruising is fading, and the redness is nearly gone. I don't think either of us expected this fast of a change. We just hope it continues. She has nine more of this chemo, then 8 weeks of another type.

Continuing on the positive side, her taste this week so far has not been badly influenced.

On the negative side, her hair is slowly falling out and her nails are now brittle.

Not everyone has the same problems with chemo but the hair and nails are often affected. There is a lot more support now for those that have hair loss no matter how she chooses to handle it.

It's a tough road y'all are on but I am glad it is going this well.