So I asked for some feedback as to what some off you want to here more about and how I live now with neuroendricine cancer and it seems to be people want to know how I (we) eat now and if there's any kind of anti-cancer diet I follow? Now I have wrote about this in the past, but it's a good one to revisit from to time to time. The honest answer I can give you on this is, I really don't know what I'm "supposed" to eat and anyone who has this type of cancer will probably agree with me on this, as it hits everyones digestive system differently and that can also be affected by the type of treatment or medicine your on. What my answer will be here won't be real clear, but I give you a rundown on how I eat now and where that's come from over the last two years.
Now I'm not a Doctor or Dietician by any means and I've spoke to multiple of both along my journey now and they've all given great advice, depending on the situation my body is in. Now you see lots of internet sites and books offer up ideas on foods that are anti-cancer and such, well I already have cancer so.... what I tend to research is more like anti-inflammatory foods, but that always doesn't work as well. Hmmm I thought this would be an easy post to put together, but not so much. There is a lot of moving parts to what I eat, and just as important how it's prepared, so let's go back to the start and we'll get to where I am now.
After first being diagnosed I read some books that gave me ideas for what type of "diet" I should follow, I really don't like using that word as it's more of a lifestyle adjustment to remain as healthy as possible while being sick....a little confusing I know, but stick with me here. So, the first thing I did was move towards a Mediterranean type diet, but was kind of lost as to preparing meals and having snacks, as I was still very active and at this point took up running everyday and found my energy levels low. Taking foods in and out of my meal plans to try and figure out what I was missing, but along with all the initial shock, on going appointments and treatment I was going through I was on the verge of a breakdown. Then it happened....went to a friends house for a bbq one afternoon and they were having burgers, so that really wasn't on my list of things I ate and mind you I was strictly not drinking alcohol at this time, I love beer! Anyway, I brought my fish fillets and ate them along with salads and veggies...you know all the good stuff we crave at a bbq, while everyone had burgers and beers everything I used to have. It also in a way, to no ones fault of coarse, makes you feel like the odd man out. Here I am with my glass of water and everyone else is drinking and having a good time, the same good time I used to have and at first this was very difficult to adjust to. I went home that night starving, and searching the cupboards for something to eat, my son came down with his bags of chips and innocently asked, " Hey Dad what's up?"....well I gave him the look of death and marched out to my garage and screamed so loud I'm surprised the police didn't show up.....I was not happy and frustrated to say the least and on top of that my weight had gone from 205lbs before surgery, to at this point 4 months later about 165lbs and I'm 6'3", but I ran a lot and my Doctor wasn't overly concerned about that yet...but, I was so focused on not putting anything in my body that would make the cancer grow more.
Then about three months after that I had my first bowel obstruction, wheeled in on the stretcher and vomiting uncontrollably the first question after I stabilized from the surgeon, who knew me, was, "What are you eating?" So I told him Mediterranean type diet, along with trying to "starve" my cancer, the idea I got from books and the internet. His advice to me was simple, "Son, when you try and starve cancer, it's kind of like starving yourself." I had 5 days in the hospital, 3 not eating to think about this and when I was able to start with food again it's a low residue diet I'm started on, now if you don't know what low residue is, google it, but it's basically no fibre, easy to digest food white rice, bread, chicken and if you want veggies boil them and make them mush and limit anything raw including all my favourite fruits, so ya, basically the opposite of how I was eating. I asked to speak to a dietician, I was confused and emotionally drained.
See what happens when you have the type of surgery I did, bowel resection to remove primary tumor and three feet of intestine, is you get scarring tissue or lesions on the inside of your small intestines that can sometimes cause them to kink, pinch together or get blocked by hard to digest food. That has now happened to yours truly 3 time now, and will be forever something I'm prone to. So when I eat anything with seeds or skin that's hard for your body to break down, I have to take my time and masticate my food well. Ya I just used a fancy word "Masticate", the first time my brother used it I had to google it as well....just means to chew your food.
Stir Fry is a Staple in our house
To throw another curve ball at the way I eat is the type of cancer I have, one of the main symptoms is, to put it eloquently, frequent bathroom visits. For me personally after speaking with others in my support group, I consider myself a little fortunate, my medicine not only helps stabilize my disease it also helps to ease symptoms and for me so far so good, for the most part, cause I do have my days and it's not pleasant. I also keep a food journal of what works fo me, but most importantly what doesn't. Added to that list is broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, french fries, and basically a lot of processed foods, other days my guts are just upset, period, and it sucks. I hardly eat potato chips anymore, and I do have beer from time to time and now that I'm back home I have a couple old friends who are bad influences, you know who you are, lol. I look at it this way the calories in beer are good for me, but I don't drink a lot of alcohol anymore, although beside a campfire, that's when I save it for.
When I'm asked now how I eat based on the fact I have cancer, my answer from all I've learned over the past couple of years is simple, moderation. I personally believe and I'm not being preachy here at all, moderation is the key for most of us. I eat a wide range of foods and try to use only fresh products, although with prices now we need to be paying attention what goes in the grocery cart, although Tracy pays for groceries. We make a lot of stir-fry, sometime veggie, other times with some meat. I have parents who have an egg farm, so that helps a lot, eggs are on top of the list of foods for me. I eat fruit slowly and with a lot of water, my thought is the water may help prevent blockages. Green tea is of coarse in the mix, usually while I have a bowl of greek yogurt. My veggies are always boiled or steamed, rice serves as a bed for our stir fries. I try to do shakes, with frozen fruit and whole milk, I'm still able to tolerate the higher fat foods and try and get my calories out of that rather then carbs, although like I said moderation. A breakfast staple, which I haven't had for a bit is avocado toast...once again healthy fats. A banana when I need a quick snack before a run, with a handful of nuts is a good one. Oh, and lots of herbs and spices. Yes, I also will eat hamburgers now usually with a side salad and like with any ruffage, eaten slowly with lots of water as well.
There's another whole topic of my meal plans when I'm out in the backcountry and I spend a lot of time out there. Obviously I hope for a few shore meals of fresh fish, but we dehydrate a lot of our own food here and I'll include a picture before this post gets to long-winded.
Dehydrated Foods for Camping, yup there's a lot
I hope that gives you an idea of how we eat now, to some it up, fresh, simple and in moderation and we try to have fun in the kitchen and it has worked for a while now. The kitchen was a source of frustration and confusion when this all first happened, but now it's turned into my favourite spot and where I usually sit to write from. I do know that as we go along here things will change and change again, it's just about adopting to restrictions as we go. One last thing and this is a blog in all itself, along with food....exercise is KEY, plays a major role along with food in my physical well-being as well as mental and emotional.
If you take anything away from this post it's moderation, having fun and to keep your body moving, "an object in motion tends to stay in motion", the key to keep looking forward.
Again thank you to all my readers, after my last post my total has gone to over 5000 views and January has now been my month with the most visitors, now help me out and share these posts and let's beat Aprils amounts of views. I liked the interaction, so anything else you want to know go ahead and ask, if you could though try and put it under the comments at the end of the post, it helps drive numbers. I know it's a pain sometimes, but I appreciate it so much!!! Check up day with the Doctor is tomorrow, let's hope for continued good news "stable".....Cheers. Steve
Oh one last thing, in between some posts coming up I'll be posting some picture galleries, I've had some people comment in the past and present on how they enjoy my camping pictures. So, for you Ray, Rick and everyone else I'm going go through my external hard drive full of hundreds of pics and put together some galleries and maybe a few short videos.