The Colon Club

Does anyone have any good recipes that I can make for my husband? He hasn't started chemo yet and he still has a pretty good appetite. He has to be careful though because he has an almost completely obstructed bowel. The Doctor told him to avoid red meat, any tomato based foods, and salad. He said he could have fish and chicken, rice and pasta, and well cooked vegetables. Nothing raw. If he eats something he shouldn't, he suffers all night. I am trying to keep him nourished and help him keep his strength up but not get him constipated. Any advice or tips. Thanks.

Wife of Husband 43yrs old
Stage 3 Rectal Cancer
Pet scan Monday
Chemo port installation next week

I think because it was a meal I could have with no issues, I really enjoyed tuna noodle casserole while going through treatments. It's not a spicy or overly flavorful meal, but it's more of a comfort food and the tuna is a good source of protein. You could also throw in some canned salmon to bulk up the health benefits. I kind of just throw together the recipe, no set exact measurements but go to say a website like All Recipes and type in tuna noodle casserole and you will see a variety of options. I tend to look for the easiest ones and/or those that I already have the ingredients for. LOL

Off the top of my head:
2 cans of chunk white tuna
1 packet of salmon
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can evaporated milk
Small bag of frozen baby peas (i never thaw, too lazy to remember and they cook just fine)
Dried Minced onion (as much as you think he/your family will like for flavor)
Bag of wide noodles (the kind used for chicken noodle soup)

I cook the noodles then mix everything all together with the cooked noodles then bake (covered) in oven 375 degrees for 45 minutes. We then eat ours with potato chips--I love the crunch and salty of the chips with this casserole. You can crunch the chips on top or I like to scoop the casserole on the chips and eat it like that. The chips make the meal!

I have a really easy and tasty chicken and rice recipe but I don't know it exactly off the top of my head and I am not home just now--will get back to you on that one. In general, not easy to eat healthy while going through this when you have to avoid so many foods that are good for you. I am a huge fruit and veggies and salad lover so it sucked having to be on a low fiber diet for so much of the whole ordeal, but it eventually gets better and you get back to eating the good stuff.

Why is it that people with almost obstructed bowels do not get a temp ilestomy before radiation etc.Did i spell that right.

Mine was near obstructed so first up was a port and temp bag. Then came the radiation.

This helped me so much durijng radiation and chemo and food wise. If u get rectal surgery you may end up with one anyway.

Maybe you could go this route?

When I was on chemo my typical meals were:

Breakfast - omelette cooked in olive oil and seasoned with turmeric and black pepper; a ripe avocado; slice of brown toast ;green tea.

Lunch - macaroni and tuna with grated cheese; smoothie made with Greek yoghurt, blueberries and powdered milk; steamed broccoli; green tea.

Dinner - canned mackerel or canned sardines with turmeric and black pepper; brown toast with low-fat feta cheese; green tea.