Stomach Peg Original Soup ™ Weaning off the Peg

Stomach Peg Original Soup ™ Weaning off the Peg

Weaning yourself off the Stomach Peg is an important part of the process. Your doctor will tell you something like “YOU NEED TO MAINTAIN YOUR BODY WEIGHT FOR THREE WEEKS WITHOUT USING THE STOMACH PEG, BEFORE WE WILL TAKE THE PEG OUT.”
This process starts about two months before. I wish I was one of the lucky people who could just eat ice cream to put on the weight, but alas I could not.; to much dairy gave me heart burn, and the sugar in the ice cream made me cough (several months after the peg was removed, ice cream still makes me cough).
I still couldn’t eat a big meal, but I could eat four medium meals. This is the only point in your life when your doctor will proscribe that you should eat more and put on weight. GO WITH IT!! At work, I liked watered down oatmeal for my ten o’clock meal. By this time my friends and co-workers were saying I looked great. But really your at about 50%, which is vastly better than running at 10%. They will live vicariously through you. Remember you don’t have to worry about “FAT FREE”.

My successful tricks-

Soy milk with whey powder-
Especially the vanilla favor was a favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I used it to wash down even hard to eat stuff like breads and crackers.

Cucumber and Spinach Shakes –
A friend recommended this because the cucumber and spinach help fight “acid stomach”.

Big Bowl of Soup Shakes-
My wife would make me a bowl of regular soup. I would eat as much as I could (at the beginning it might have been as little as three spoonfuls). Then blend the rest and drink as a warm shake. This may seem odd, but the time you get to this point, everything is better as a shake. Split Pea Shake! Chowder Shake! Minestrone Shake!

Butter-
Oh butter tastes great on everything – noodles, oatmeal, eggs, toast (if you can), cream soup (Loved Chowders), noodles (yes buttered noodles need to be mentioned twice), etc.

Cheese –
For some reason milk and I disagreed but cheese and I got along fine. Especially, soft cheeses like brie. My friend knew I couldn’t have beer, so he got me beer flavored cheese like Porter Cheese, and Chimay Cheese.

Peanut Butter and Celery-
I was surprised that this worked. There is enough juice in the celery to melt the peanut butter that it was easy to swallow.

Receiving Chemo and fluids at Dana Farber

Stomach Peg Original Soup ™ SPOS THE CARE GIVER TOP 5 SUGGESTIONS

Stomach Peg Original Soup ™ SPOS THE CARE GIVER TOP 5 SUGGESTIONS

Do you want something to eat?
NO!
How about some soup?
NO!
You need to have something, how about something to drink?
NO!
I can make you a smoothie?
NO!
What can I make you?
NOTHING! I’m cold and Tired!
YOU CAN’T JUST HAVE CANS ALL DAY . . .
Sound familiar?

My son, Alec, put it best: living with a dad with cancer was like living with a pet bear. You feed it. You scratch its fur. Usually, it’s hunched over and hibernating, but you have to be careful because it will lash out and rip your head off. I nearly laughed my head off because of how on point this statement was.

As a Care Giver, I cry for you, because I know I was a bear. You watch your loved one in pain and there is not much you can do – especially if we are tired and grumpy.

On the food side, here are some suggestions:

1) JUST DO IT. We are tired, cold, and generally miserable that there is little that will comfort us by the words that you say. Our body is busy consuming itself making us lose 2-5 pounds a week. If you think we need food – just make the food and set it next to us. If you think we need drink – just make it and set it next to us. If you think we need a blanket – just bring over the blanket. Don’t ask us questions because it is easy to say NO! In fact it is easier to say no multiple times. I know you want to check in and see how we are doing, but once we start the downward spiral of saying “NO!” back off and just do it. Every time my wife, Randi, set down a bowl, or glass, or cup she was saying “I LOVE YOU”.

2) LET THEM EAT WHERE THEY ARE. When you are miserable the last thing you want to do is go to the kitchen table and eat next to nothing, proving you are ill with a cancer that you never asked for in the first place. I had a favorite easy chair in front of the TV which I would curl up on with my comfy blanket and watch my favorite shows – ELLEN and American Chopper (the first couple of seasons). Randi, my wife, finally let me have a stool which I used as a table. It held my water glass, my soy milk glass (easiest thing for me to drink) and a plate for food. A typical meal took me about 2 hours to eat. There was no way I was going to sit at a dining room table for two hours. The idea is to get nutrients in the body, and exercise the throat. If it takes two hours- it take two hours. Que Sera, Sera!! Trust me this is the hardest thing to do.

3) MAKE SMALL PORTIONS. There were times when my Nutritionist, Stephanie Myers, was happy if I had two spoonfuls. So put 4 portions in the bowl/plate. It looks like next to nothing. And then you will add double to that. WHOA! When the patient looks at the bowl they will turn away because they know they will never finish it. Instead, put out the small amount in a small bowl and then in about a half hour come back and replace the bowl with a new bowl of food. NO COMMENT NEEDED. There are certain foods perfect for this - especially scrambled eggs. Find the comfort food that will go down well.

4) DON’T BE TOO CREATIVE/ DON’T TELL US WHAT IS IN IT. My wife made smoothies all the time, because it was one of the few things I could consume orally. If is sounded to exotic and not comfort food – I would be the bear and not want to try it. So she would just make it and set it next to me and tell me the flavor – VANILLA. I’m sure she added turmeric, soy powder, or something else that was good for me. She read all these books about anti-cancer foods – trust me when you can get only two spoonfuls down the throat the last thing you want to hear about is anti-cancer foods. OH and I do add turmeric to my foods now – especially Chili

5) LITTLE WARMER THAN ROOM TEMPERATURE – Remember, we got the Stomach Peg because our throat is sore. SPOS can be drunk at room temp. SMOOTHIES are great at room temp. SOUPS should be a little warmer room temp. Eggs should be a little warmer room temp. Remember we are big babies – BIG FUSSY BABIES – BIG FUSSY CRY BABIES. We like our food at baby milk bottle temperature.

You never thought you would be an animal trainer, and can’t hurry cancer treatment. One of my favorite quotes, “THIS TOO WILL COME TO PASS.” God Bless you

Always,
Jeff Scott Hoyland

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My Caregivers, keeping me company at Dana Farber