Cooking for a chemo patient. Suggestions?

vegaslounge

Hello MFPals...

This question isn't exactly for me but for my mother. Long story short, she is undergoing a new, incredibly brutal chemotherapy (it's known in the ward as "the Red Devil") and it basically knocks out her red and white blood cells to– at times– the point that her levels are so low they don't even register on her tests. She also has anemia, and while that runs in the family it doesn't help with the chemo. I am the primary cook in the family and want to know what I can do to boost those levels!

A little nutritional background– Mom eats about 90% organic, avoids sugar as much as possible (fuel for cancer cells), is perhaps a little TOO obsessed with "clean" eating (to the point my father has a stick of the highest-nitrate-possible pepperoni hidden in his office closet) and often takes Yahoo! news scaremongering on nutrition as gospel. I'm working on that last bit.

So...what can I cook to help her iron/blood/etc levels? The obvious answer is 'beans' but they don't react well to her chemo and make her hurl. She doesn't eat a lot of meat (I'm vegetarian myself but I'd happily learn how to cook meat if it would help her) and acid-y foods like tomatoes, again, make her hurl. The 'best' food that seems to work with her is, oddly, Thai– might have something to do with the coconut milk, dunno.

Thank y'all for any suggestions! Mom's actually responding amazingly well to treatment, but the eating thing is really throwing her for a loop. We're a Southern family, and dangnabit, we like our food!

VL

YF92

Best if you consult a nutritionist here, but I can say from experience to pay attention to one thing: cook well so she doesn't get sick or anything like that (low white cells). To boost iron & blood levels one of the best foods you can make is beef liver. Focus on red meats & chicken (if she doesn't have blood pressure problems). Generally focus on animal proteins here

For white cell counts, hospitals sometimes have injections that boost that. Talk to your doctor about it.

shaumom

I don't have experience with chemo, but I have a family member I cook for who has chronic stomach pain which a variety of food can make worse, and getting her to eat enough iron is always a concern. So, from that perspective, here's what I've got.

1. With the chemo, flavor is REALLY important. Basically, she's going to have a lot of negative reinforcement to NOT eat, with the nausea and stomach issues from the chemo. Flavor is pretty much the only real positive she's going to have for eating (aside from avoiding even MORE pain from being starved), so as creative as you can get with that, as much flavor as you can add - that's going to help.

If she feels nauseated WHILE eating and it's hard to choke it down, sometimes setting it up so that there's something she can focus on to take her mind off her food and her stomach, like watching a movie or something, can help a little.

For some people, temperature can affect how nauseated they feel. This is just my experience with nausea in general, from health reasons rather than illness, so I'm not certain it would apply to nausea induced by chemo. But might be worth considering, or at least looking into.

2. heme iron, the kind in animal products, is more readily absorbed by the body than the nonhdme iron found in plants, so I would really consider adding more red meat to her diet, yeah. Usually the heme vs. nonheme doesn't make much difference to most folks, but for her, it could. Bison/buffalo meat is one I'd recommend. It's lower in cholesterol and higher in iron than beef. And it's about as much as organic beef is, anyway, AND most buffalo meat is primarily grass fed, so if she's looking up information on it on the web, it typically has a lot of praise for it. However, it's stronger tasting than beef, so a spicy, very flavorful dish can be useful with it.

Another thing that is VERY high in iron - possibly more than bison - is liver. Chicken liver is the easiest to get hold for a lot for not too much money, I'd imagine. It's strong tasting, so I've had the best luck chopping it up fine and doing things like adding it in to OTHER meat dishes, for a little extra iron. Meatballs have been an easy one, could potentially use them with pesto sauce and pasta, for example. Small meatballs or cuts of meat could easily be added to thai.

Although if Thai is good, you might want to check out turmeric and ginger, specifically. Ginger tea (made from ginger root) is often used to calm upset stomachs, and turmeric is anti-inflammatory (my regular MD doctor even recommended it!). Both of these are often found in Thai cuisine, especially the ginger. Perhaps the ginger is part of why Thai doesn't upset her stomach too much.

Or...you could explore some common allergens/problem foods that aren't in Thai cuisine but are present in other foods she eats. Dairy, for example - the tips of the villi are used to make lactase to digest lactose. If they are damaged from gut trouble, it can cause lactose intolerance, and Thai is typically low to no dairy. Perhaps gluten, too. Thai food is typically very low in gluten, as well. In traditional places, it is one of the few Asian cuisines which often use a soy sauce that is still from soy rather than containing wheat fillers.

3. If you've got an iron skillet, I'd cook about everything you can in it - it will actually add a little iron to your food that IS absorbed by the human body (seriously, it's a weird thing, but true). Acidic dishes will interact with the iron skillet and draw out a little more iron, actually. Tomatoes are obviously out, but anything with citrus might be worth considering.


Wish I had more for you. Hoping that the chemo goes very well for her.

RodaRose

Do you or she participate in a support group? Those people might be helpful.
Also, a friendly pharmacist might have some ideas.
Tai food usually has pepper mint leaves, lime leaves, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, curry, cilantro, galangal, chilli, and basil.
I wonder if the ginger is helping her with side effects.

Some thoughts. Check with her:
eggs (good for selenium --which helps with side effects)
tofu (is it in her Tai Food?)
miso soup, sports drinks,
yogurt
kale, romaine, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach
milk shakes & smoothies

vegaslounge

If she feels nauseated WHILE eating and it's hard to choke it down, sometimes setting it up so that there's something she can focus on to take her mind off her food and her stomach, like watching a movie or something, can help a little.

No, it's more that food upsets her stomach after eating. We have tried everything from movies to marijuana, and unfortunately none of it seems to work too well.

For some people, temperature can affect how nauseated they feel. This is just my experience with nausea in general, from health reasons rather than illness, so I'm not certain it would apply to nausea induced by chemo. But might be worth considering, or at least looking into.

Smell seems to be the real trigger for her. She tells me that what I cook for myself is nauseating to her, and so I try not to cook my food after she's had treatment....but honestly I either can't smell how 'bad' my food is or she's 'newly' sensitive to stuff she wouldn't have thought about previously. We both love ridiculously spicy food– I got it from her!– but I am doing my best to accommodate her needs.

Bison/buffalo meat is one I'd recommend. It's lower in cholesterol and higher in iron than beef. And it's about as much as organic beef is, anyway, AND most buffalo meat is primarily grass fed, so if she's looking up information on it on the web, it typically has a lot of praise for it. However, it's stronger tasting than beef, so a spicy, very flavorful dish can be useful with it.

Had not thought of bison/buffalo meat! Will definitely suggest that...I know when we lived out West my folks liked the occasional buffalo burger. Oh Lordy, I feel like the worst vegetarian in the world right now, but, screw it, my folks have supported my diet for the past 15 years, I can help them with theirs.

Although if Thai is good, you might want to check out turmeric and ginger, specifically. Ginger tea (made from ginger root) is often used to calm upset stomachs, and turmeric is anti-inflammatory (my regular MD doctor even recommended it!). Both of these are often found in Thai cuisine, especially the ginger. Perhaps the ginger is part of why Thai doesn't upset her stomach too much.

Will recommend. She's into tea so that might work.

Or...you could explore some common allergens/problem foods that aren't in Thai cuisine but are present in other foods she eats. Dairy, for example - the tips of the villi are used to make lactase to digest lactose. If they are damaged from gut trouble, it can cause lactose intolerance, and Thai is typically low to no dairy. Perhaps gluten, too. Thai food is typically very low in gluten, as well. In traditional places, it is one of the few Asian cuisines which often use a soy sauce that is still from soy rather than containing wheat fillers.

She doesn't have any food intolerance/allergies aside from ones she self-diagnoses (dear GOD how I hate Yahoo...) She diagnosed herself with lactose intolerance because she felt like *kitten* for a week and vehemently cut all dairy out of her diet...before her oncologist told her she was lacking, like, ALL the proteins and suggested she should eat more dairy.

If you've got an iron skillet, I'd cook about everything you can in it - it will actually add a little iron to your food that IS absorbed by the human body (seriously, it's a weird thing, but true). Acidic dishes will interact with the iron skillet and draw out a little more iron, actually. Tomatoes are obviously out, but anything with citrus might be worth considering.

The iron skillet won't be a problem– we're Southern and iron skillets are second nature...and, she's insisted we basically throw out any cooking tools that are not cast-iron, stainless steel, or wood– no nonstick, silicon or anything that has any plastic, including coffeemakers, spatulas, rice cookers etc.

For the record, I don't believe for an instant that non-stick cooking pans=cancer, more than I believe that dryer sheets=cancer as she also believes. I love my Mom and want the best for her, but she's kinda easily swayed.

Wish I had more for you. Hoping that the chemo goes very well for her.

Thank you, and thank you for your awesome advice!

VL