Friday 9 July 2021

The gas man bloweth ...

Yesterday, as the Radiation Therapist checked David's pre-session scan, she mentioned that he had a lot of gas in his bowel. She didn't indicate why that was problematic, but David got the impression that it was.

She said to consult the pamphlets we were given about the treatment and what to do/eat etc - so last night we did, but they are not specific about why gas is not helpful. And you know us: the why is as important as the what to us boffins.  

As we continued to investigate (isn't the internet amazing?), we came across a reference to a low FODMAP diet being required for men with prostate cancer undergoing radiation. 

So then we had to look up FODMAP foods - don’t ask what it stands for as it’s words I do not understand and cannot pronounce. Essentially though it’s foods that create wind. They could, for ease of understanding, call it FARTFOODS ...

So that means that for the duration of his radiation treatment, David needs to avoid cashews (!!), chickpeas and coleslaw, cauliflower, broccoli and beans because they create gas in the bowel - as the gas moves it shifts the prostate bed, so the radiation targeting is not so accurate. Who knew? (The article uses words like intrafractional and interfractional but just go with 'it shifts the prostate bed' OK?)

And of course, on Wednesday and Thursday nights David had eaten big quantities of chickpea veg curry, cauliflower rice (about 1/2 a head of cauliflower each time …), coleslaw, beetroot and carrot salad. A veritable gale in his bowels … And he LOVES cauliflower rice, but until his treatment is over, no more cauliflower rice for David!

And his post treatment travel snack bag needs to exclude hummus. His nut snack box has had the cashews removed.
 
For the duration, David may have to have the occasional egg to supplement the nuts as his protein source, given the lack of legumes.
 
And no more falafel! I am going to take the hummus and falafel that I made yesterday to breakfast this morning and donate them to Bruce, Gary and David R. My David can hand them over in a short ceremony of farewell. At least he knows they will go to an appreciative home!

 

4 comments:

Jennie said...

With little on our terrestrial channels, Chris and I watched Spooks over the winter and thoroughly enjoyed them despite seeing most of them the first time around! It is quite some regime and I have just seen your latest post with the foods David is no longer allowed. Good to know that he has his route and toilets all mapped out. Take care both of you. Jennie x

Anonymous said...

Who knew nuts gave you wind!
I would have thought peas, swede, onion and baked beanz would be more problematic.
Is cheese allowed, rather than eggs as a source of protein?
Good luck,
Ann Makemson. xx

Marilyn, nb Waka Huia said...

Hi Ann,
David doesn't eat swede ever and he has given up onions, and baked beans, and we don't have many peas.

We have largely given up dairy.

Mxx

Marilyn, nb Waka Huia said...

Hi Jennie,
David is really enjoying Spooks - I seem to remember that we first saw it when we lived in the UK - Church Enstone or perhaps in Bromley or Crystal Palace... I do remember we watched it on the boat, but that may well have been on repeat.

The dietary regime takes a bit of coming to terms with - we will get it sorted and it is only for 5.5 more weeks. That is a good thing because everything I read about a low FODMAP diet indicates that it is not a good long term solution unless there are things like IBS that need to be managed.

Today I made fondant potatoes: thickly sliced potatoes baked in vegetable stock with a bit of thyme and a wee bit of butter. That with a lettuce, tomato, cucumber and parsley salad made quite a yummy dinner.

Mxx