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A group of us need food suggestions and recipes to help us take food to a friend who is undergoing some very harsh chemo. His wife needs to go back to work, and we want to supply meals that are tasty but won't excessively provoke his nausea. We love our friends and just want to make their lives easier at a challenging time and relieve her of having to cook after a long day at work. I'm not aware of any allergies or strong dislikes.

Thank you so much, and please offer T & Ps for our dear friends.

Nutrition during cancer treatment is complicated. Hopefully, your friends as a couple have been given nutrition guidelines to help him through it. If so, you should discuss your plan with the Mrs. to see what her DH's health professionals are recommending.

In general, cancer patients need nutrient-dense foods that are easy to digest, high protein, high calorie, but low in fat. Recent recommendations are trending toward low-to-no refined sugar, as that is thought to "feed" the cancer cells.

You wouldn't want to tempt him with foods that would be bad for him. So ask his wife about it. At the very least, go to the American Cancer Society's website and look up information about nutrition for the cancer patient... http://www.cancer.org/treatmen...oplewithcancer/index
There's lots of general info there to go by.

My first hubby wasn't interested in much food during his chemo. He would choke down part of one of the nutrition drinks and would eat some fresh fruits like catalope, honeydews & watermelon. He said the other stuff hurt as it went down...like apples, oranges & even grapes.

Nettie is right. You need to talk to the Mrs. to find out what he can tolerate & what he can't. We did milk shakes from time to time too or juice drinks that instead of using water to mix, I ran through the blender with ice to make a sort of slushy.
You can sometimes add the instant breakfast mixes to milk shakes to give them more nutrients & excess can be kept frozen for future use.

I took care of my mother while she was having chemo (breast cancer) and her oncologist was very impressed with my success in keeping her weight up. I found that about the only foods she was able to enjoy (if you can call it that) were broiled steak and homemade mashed potatoes. She also liked Coke floats made with vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately, I liked all these things way too much myself. Since I had quit smoking at the same time, it was way too easy to indulge myself!!!!

It will depend on the type of chemotherapy, but in general, it is recommended that you avoid uncooked fruits and vegetables because your immune system is compromised, so bacteria and viruses found on uncooked foods are harder to fight off. Usually, carbs like potatoes are easiest for chemo patients to digest. Some chemo meds cause certain foods to taste metallic. Also, your stomach is more prone to acid over-production, so you might want to avoid highly acidic foods like tomatoes. It really is different for every chemo regimen and every patient.

I forgot to mention that we were told that potato peels were NOT allowed.

I would like to add my two cents worth...

When my very dear friend, Mary was suffering from Breast Cancer and subsequent chemo treatments...the very last thing they really wanted was people dropping food off....All she really wanted was chocolate covered peanuts
Her husband made alot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She was up and very nauseated all day/ all night....so the thought of eating other peoples prepared meals just did nothing for them. When she felt a bit better they did what they needed to do. So I made them promise when she felt better to let me know and I would run something over......in the meantime....I would go to our local chocolate store "The South Bend Chocolate Company" and get her a 2# puund box of chocolate covered peanuts,send a text message and let them know it was on the front porch and she was as happy as she could be.

So just make sure you speak with the spouse and find out what THEY really would like to have...if they say nothing really....just respect that. They probably mean it. They probably would appreciate your T & P's more than anything else

j

When my sister was undergoing chemo she liked my smoothies (fruit, fat free yogurt, almond milk and ice - colder was usually better). Some days that was too much - I kept a store of one cup containers of home made beef broth made from good marrow bones. She would sip on it when she could stomach it.

But the one thing she would always eat was my mother's recipe for whoopie pies - terrible for her, I know. Full of crisco and sugar, but if she would eat them, I happily made them for her. Sometimes it was only a bite or two, but she NEVER shared, never.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: katiemedarlin,

Thank you so much to everyone who replied. This is his second diagnosis with cancer, and his wife is very familiar with using everything from healthy smoothies to ice cream to keep him from losing too much weight. In the last two weeks he has been able to eat a normal but bland diet--just not his usual spicy foods. We are trying to help both of them by providing appealing food that he can tolerate and she can enjoy. His usual cycle is a week of chemotherapy, followed by a week of horrible nausea and vomiting, then followed by two weeks of being able to eat a somewhat normal diet. We are trying to help feed them when he's in the last two weeks of a cycle. So far we it's working well; we just need some fresh ideas.

I think you should check out ginger snaps. When we first started to cruise, we were told to bring ginger snaps and to eat them when the ride was a bit rough. I also had ginger capsules with me in case it was too rough for our stomachs. This is good for that sick feeling that you get from sea sickness or car rides, so I would think it may work for chemo too.

I can't believe I haven't thought about ginger or ginger snaps! One of my grandchildren uses ginger capsules for car sickness, and ginger ale helped our family survive many bouts of stomach virus.

I don't have any recipes to contribute but have two thoughts:

1. Yes, ginger is a great anti-nausea ingredient ~ I bet if you google "recipes using ginger" you will find a lot of great ideas.

2. But, the idea I liked most, was the one that suggested just leaving any gifts (food or otherwise) on the front porch after calling to let them know in advance. As well-meaning as everyone might be during this time, it can be just too difficult and stressful to have company ~ even for the three minutes it takes to drop off the food ~ so, call, text and drop-off.

Believe me they will be more appreciative of the offering than if they are put in the position of actually having to answer the door and make chit-chat. Just a suggestion from one who has been there...

Thank you for the reminder about how tired and stressed people are at times like this. In our circle of friends texting is essential because all of us are so busy trying to keep up with career, family, household, church, etc., and even phone calls can be intrusive at times.