During the first two months of chemotherapy (the AC portion of the 4-month ACT regimen) it was difficult to get the nutrition I needed because I was constantly nauseated. The anti-nausea medication Kaiser Oncology pharmacy gave me helped to curb the queasiness, but my appetite was still suppressed from the chemo cocktails. The only foods I wanted to eat during that time were bread & butter pickles and mashed potatoes. I even CRAVED bread & butter pickles and managed to consume two giant jars in just two months. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night hungry for bread & butter pickles and couldn’t get back to sleep until I made a trip to the refrigerator. What’s interesting is that I didn’t crave them before chemotherapy, or after.
I lost 10 pounds those first two months, but gained it all back, plus a few during the T (Taxol) part of the regimen. I was so happy to regain my appetite that I ate everything in sight.
After the chemotherapy and the radiation treatments ended, my eating habits were not as good as they should have been. Even though I generally follow a healthy diet, I found it hard to eat as many fruits and vegetables as is recommended to prevent a recurrence of breast cancer. The solution? A Vitamix Blender. It has a very powerful motor that won’t bog down and can liquefy fruits and vegetables in just seconds. I found it much easier to drink my fruits and vegetables all at once rather than eating them throughout the day. However, I still use a smaller blender for making an occasional smoothie.
The Vitamix blender was first introduced to me by a doctor who is also a cancer survivor. He said that he didn’t have time to nibble on vegetables all day, so he bought the blender and now can conveniently drink all of the vegetables he needs for the day in one or two glasses of juice.
I bought my blender at Costco after watching a Vitamix rep demonstrate all of the cool things it could do. The price was much lower than what I found on the Internet, however, I later learned that Amazon.com has the lowest prices for the Vitamix blender Vitamix 5200 Series Blender, Black
and other items as well. I thought that Amazon.com only sold books and DVDs, which is why I didn’t check their prices earlier.If your mouth is sore from chemotherapy and you have difficulty swallowing food, you might find it easier to drink your nutrients during your treatment regimen. Any blender or juicer would probably be fine. I happen to own a small blender, a juice extractor, and a juicer, although I prefer the Vitamix blender because the motor is very powerful and it’s easy to clean. Plus, the Vitamix container holds a lot of fruits and vegetables, so I can make up a large batch of juice at one time.
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