Side Effects: 5 Senses

I must say that I have been very lucky to have experienced very few side effects during my cancer treatments. I know that many cancer patients deal with side effects that can be very debilitating. I would consider my side effects to be relatively minor in comparison. I am blessed and thankful for that. I talked about some of my side effects in a previous post Side Effects: Short Term Pain for Long Term Gain? 

I continue to have most of these side effects mentioned in that post, but some seem to have reduced in severity (or perhaps I am just getting used to them more now). My current side effects seem to be related to the five senses, specifically taste, smell and touch.

Taste

Since my ability to eat solid foods has returned (hooray!), I must admit that I have been indulging in eating all of my favourite foods (in some cases to excess). I have gained back most of my lost weight, which I consider a good thing as my weight drop was beginning to be a concern. I had dropped over 30 pounds in a short time. This is not a concern any longer! I am almost back to my original weight. I guess I need to cut back on the snacks (we call them salty crunchies) and sugary treats. My current mindset is "What the hell! Eat what you want Richard!"  I may need to rethink this mindset soon.

I am fortunate to be able to eat again after being on Ensure shakes and broths/soups for a few months, but my taste buds are really off.  As I mentioned in my earlier post, you never really realize the impact that food plays on most aspects of your life. Food is part of our culture, our identity and our social being. It is a focal point of our day. I am glad to be able to enjoy the social aspects of food again- family dinners, going to restaurants, visiting friends for dinner, etc.

One of my current side effects is that I don't really get the full, rich flavours of foods like I used to. They all seem muted and in some cases, tasteless. I am not really complaining as the variety of flavours, textures and food options has improved substantially since being able to each solid foods again. I hope to never go back to only being able to eat liquid foods, I will if I have too, but would prefer not to return to this limited diet.

Michelle has been hard at work making some of my favourite foods and baked goods. I definitely ate my share of turkey dinner, freshly baked holiday cookies and Buche de Noel over the holidays.  We have been blessed to have friends and colleagues bring me homemade soups, special chicken broth, assortments of candy & ginger to help with my dry mouth and taste bud issues. 

Smell

My sense of smell has also been heightened during treatments. I now have a smelling super power! I'm like a human bloodhound. I keep asking Michelle, "Can you smell that?" This is not always a good thing. Lately I have been smelling some 'nasty smells'. I am not really sure where they are coming from (perhaps some are coming from me internally) or why I am smelling them, but they are nasty! 

To help block or cover these smells -a Michelle innovation - we have created small smelling jars with coffee beans and lavender buds placed around the house that I will sniff to block out the bad smells. as needed. It seems to work (most times). When out and about, my heightened sense of smell can be a bother. I seem to be able to smell 'nasty' smells all around me. Not pleasant at times, but it is manageable. I am hoping that after my last chemo next week, this side effect will be reduced or go away.

Touch

I have been finding that my skin is often itchy and dry. My first thought was that this was just the winter weather that was causing this, but this is more than seasonal dry skin. I also notice that my hands and feet sometimes form small blemishes (especially between my fingers). My oncologist indicated that this can be a normal side effect of treatment. He suggested that I use medicated hand/body cream to help with this. This seems to work and the blemishes disappear in a few days. As a preventive measure, I lather up with hand cream all the time! (something new for me. I was never really a hand lotion kind of guy!)

At times, I get little tingles throughout my body. They are like sparks. They feel like little mini fireworks going off inside my body.  They happen for just a few seconds. Not really sure what they are. They worry me at times. I assume that they are little reactions/side effects from my treatments.

My legs and knees also seem to get sore easily. Not sure if this is a side effect or just old age creeping in on me!  Nonetheless I keep walking, keep active, and rest when I need to.

I have thankfully have had no nausea, no vomiting, no hair loss, no debilitating side effects during both my radiation and my chemotherapy treatments. I am thankful for this! I can live with these minor nuisances that I am currently experiencing. They are manageable and don't really effect my quality of life that much. 

Here's hoping it stays this way for a long time!

Richard

Food, Glorious Food!

Your don't realize what you are missing until you can't have it anymore. Food, glorious food!

After that first appointment I was told that I had to immediately go on a liquid diet as my esophagus was almost completely blocked by my tumour. This, I was told, was the the reason for my ongoing burps, hiccups and vomiting. Looking back, I am actually grateful for these symptoms, otherwise I might never have realized that I was sick and had cancer as no other signs or symptoms were present except for the rapid weight loss. I have been told that esophageal cancer doesn't give you many clues along the way. The tumour is quietly growing in your body without you even knowing it. The doctors indicated that often, once you are diagnosed, it is often too late. 

My new daily liquid diet consists of at least five Ensure calorie enhanced drinks a day. We try to supplement it with a variety of pureed soups and I have also been trying some small amounts of mashed potatoes and other pureed foods with some success. At first I thought, I can do this! Whatever it takes! My doctors indicated that they hoped that the radiation would shrink the tumour enough for me to eat some more solid food. Time will tell if this is an option.

Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla and butter pecan. These are my daily flavour choices. Sounds great! I love all of these sweet flavours. To be honest they don't actually taste all that bad but how I miss the savoury options in my diet. I never really feel hungry. The Ensures seem to fill my food needs. I don't really have cravings although I do miss all the glorious food options [solid food] that I used to eat. 

A few days into this new liquid diet, I realized (the hard way) that I needed to supplement my diet with fibre. I will spare you the details on this one but lets just say the words in the brackets say it all! When I added prune juice and Benefibre to my daily morning routine it helped a great deal!

You may not even realize it but food really consumes a great portion of our daily lives. I only understood the impact of food and how it permeates our day when limitations in my food options were made. Weekly food rituals include planning meal options, buying the food, bagging the food, unpacking the food, preparing the food, eating the food, clean up after eating the food, then planning all over again! The food cycle continues. When your food choices are made for you, this ritual is drastically altered. Bonus, you do save some time!

Thanks to Michelle and to my family for adjusting our food options and choices to help accommodate and adjust to my new diet. A few more mash potatoes, pureed vegetables and soups are on the menu now in our household.

A liquid or puree diet also has a negative impact on your social life. You don't really realize it but food is really an integral part of our social lives. My family loves to go out to restaurants and get takeout meals. Sometime for convenience sake (no cooking!) and other times for the variety of food choices and flavours. Often coming to consensus on a take out food option that we can all agree upon takes longer than the ordering and eating part! Going to a restaurant is another Erdmann family past time. A great way to connect with your family, catch up on the days events and have some quality family time. When you can only have liquids and puréed food items for your meals, this dramatically limits your ability to enjoy this important social aspect with your friends and family. Often it is difficult to find food as most restaurants have limited options in this area.

I encourage each of you to enjoy food in all its forms. Don't take it for granted. Be sure to enjoy the social aspects that food creates for your family and friends. Be sure to eat with your family or others! Go out and celebrate with each other. Have that dessert!  Enjoy the foods you love and makes you feel good (in moderation). Enjoy them! You don't know what you are missing until they are not longer an option. Eat the darn chips!

Food, Glorious food!

Richard