There are many resources available for patients and caregivers dealing with cancer. The treatments for the management of Cancer have taken many different routes, and are more specific than ever before, depending on the type of cancer, its location and other variables.

I believe that fear is our biggest enemy, when it comes to dealing with the complexity of these disorders. Anticipation of the worst surely brings everyone’s spirits down. The best management tools that I have found focus on two things; healthy nutrition and healthy thinking.

Getting excited about eating when you feel lousy is a challenge, so I would make these suggestions to improve nutrition:

Eat small amounts of food every two hours, and avoid the negative feelings that come from facing a full plate of food.

Lose the “three meals a day” logic and just keep track of what you are eating, to make sure that you are consuming enough calories to keep you going strong.

Supplement meals with some of the sports drinks that are out there; Gatorade, Powerade, etc… to keep you hydrated and consider some of the protein-type mixes that you can use as a base to make some “home- made smoothies” that taste better than the ones that are “nutritional drinks” filled with preservatives.

If you have the added complication of needing to limit the amount of protein you can tolerate; Naturade makes a Weight Gain Powder that I use with a number of my patients that can greatly increase the volume of calories a person takes in, when used as a base for a smoothie that you can add fruit, frozen yogurt and other things to. If you want to find a resource for the powder, let us know and we can help you find it locally.

Healthy thinking is another challenge. Going to support groups is helpful for the patient and the caregiver. If you have difficulty finding a support group near you, let us know and we can help locate some resources in your area.

Read positive books. Exercise to tolerance. Any movement helps. Meditation, deep breathing, and any type of activity that moves you to focus on establishing positive energy is the goal.

Surround yourself with positive people. Send us a message and let us know how we can help! xo Sally