Discuss special health-related diets here.

14 responses total.

My friend who is 86 and had the lower part of her stomach removed along with
the cancer is going home in a couple of weeks and is wondering what she can
eat.  She is limited to 1/2 cup per sitting due to lack of a valve between
stomach and intestine, to make sure things get digested slowly enough.  She
said custard was okay, lasagna was a problem.  She does not like vegetables
except squash but is willing to experiment.  She likes rice.  I suspect she
will have to eat things cooked, and either very well chewed or mushy.  She
just got new teeth (and glasses, and shoes, for when she can go walking
again).  She asked me for ideas what to cook.  She liked the flat rice-flour
squares I brought her once from a Chinese restaurant that you soaked overnight
then fried.  I might send a selection of Chinese noodles.

What sorts of things could someone cook that can be eaten frequently in 1/2
cup portions (she has amicrowave oven) and are quickly digested?  

She is not going to spend a lot of time cooking for just one, so nothing too
complicated.

Try Boost with ice cream.  She's going to have trouble getting enough protein
and calories otherwise.  

I think she is supposed to eat low-fat because fat is hard to digest if your
stomach does not retain the food for long.  She likes sugar.  Is boost the
very sugary drink that comes in cans?  They tried to force it on me in the
hospital - two different types of drink that were skim milk with tons of sugar
and some vitamins added.  Even Jim could not stand the sweetness.  I think
she said she was also not supposed to eat a lot of sugar.  I will write and
ask.  Today the nurse was supposed to come instruct her what to eat.

She says she is down to 131 pounds.  She always wanted to lose weight but not
below 130.  Her pants don't fit now.  I had the same problem last year.  I
could eat anything I wanted (I just did not want).

We just took a walk in the rain to the local Chinese food store and will be
sending a CARE package with rice sticks, rice squares (short flat noodle
pieces), bean thread (thin noodle), green mung bean noodles, cassava noodles,
rice vermicelli, and a few other noodly things and some haw candy.  Maybe a
preserved duck egg or two (brown rubbery white, blue runny cheeselike yolk)
She is allergic to penicillin and painkillers.  No mushrooms or anyting with
spices added, or salt, or sugar.  Sweet potato noodles too.  Jim got a bunch
of things for us to try including a 2 lb bottle of red brewer's yeast with
salt added that he hopes has B-12 in it, for $1.19, some fermented white tofu
(white yeast), vacuum packed chestnuts that he wants to send my friend, peanut
gluten (fried wheat gluten with boiled peanuts added), woodear...

Chicken broth with egg noodles

I will suggest this.  I hope her lasagna reaction was not due to the noodles,
but it was probably all the grease.  She is supposed to avoid fats, maybe
because the stomach is involved in digesting them.  Today I got a letter from
a friend in Trieste whose sister survived stomach cancer but still has to be
careful about what she eats.  She felt well enough to take a vacation in
Romania this summer.  

They have some great spas in Romania for treating stomach ailments.

In the same line of thought of this topic...  

I've been in recent touch with a good friend of my sister's [kind of 
checking in with her from time to time since Maureen lives out of 
town]. This friend just broke her arm [at the elbow] and is currently 
in a cast. They want to do surgery but she's very allergic to anestesia 
as well as most [if not all] drugs/medications [even vitamins!]. So 
once this arm is healed, it will have somewhat of a deformity as well 
as limitations in range of motion and use.

Anyway, when I talked with her today, I was talking with her about a 
well balanced diet to help with the healing...  Does anyone have any 
suggestions of easy kinds of food that she can fix-that isn't all junk 
food but still something that, as her pain and limited use of her left 
side permits, she might be able to eat?  She just moved back to MI from 
out west and is currently staying with a friend for a little while 
[though she'll eventually need a new place to live on her own]. I'm 
assuming this friend she's staying with has appropriate cooking 
supplies and would be able to do some grocery shopping for her.  [And I 
did offer my services if she needs anything...]

Any good ideas would be welcome.  Oh, and she doesn't get enough 
protein in her diet, so perhaps some easy things she could do to 
incorporate more of this, will be nice.  

Thanks!

Bummer, about your friend's predicament.  I suspect almost everything
in the kitchen will be challenging, with one arm, but hearty soups
might be easier than some other meals.  Most of the ingredients could be
purchased pre-chopped and frozen.  There would be built-in leftovers that
can be easily frozen in most instances.  And it's easy to make healthy soup.
Too, soup is slow and she could take her time with each step.

She'd still need help, of course, but maybe less than with other choices.

Good hearty soup is a great idea; I'll pass this along. Perhaps her 
friend could help in opening things up for her. And perhaps put 
leftovers in individual containers so that reheating leftovers in the 
microwave would be easier.  Thanks, Mary. :-)

Microwaved potato only takes one arm.  With yogurt or cheese if she wants
animal protein.  Microwaved carrots and other vegetables.

Might a mandoline be easier for her to use than a knife?  Cheapass $10
mandolines can be gotten at Target.

I'm not a big fan of the mandolin for a couple of reasons.  First, 
scars on my knuckles from getting cut on one.  Second, it takes up too 
much space.  Third, I have a food processor.  Fourth, I can do most of 
that work with a knife.  

I'm becoming more anti-gadget as I get older.

Right, but for someone with limited mobility in one arm, a cheapass
mandoline might be just the thing.  The $10 ones I've seen at Target
have food holder thingys to prevent knuckle-slicing.  I wouldn't like to
try using a chef's knife one-handed.

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