Hello

Hi my name is Jon Brady and I am a recent Cancer patient, some may say just a newbie, I went through a series of processes since my first diagnosis of cancer back in 2019/20 and have since had two treatments the first just radiation and the second cancer diagnosis made a spectacular comeback in 2022 leading to major surgery and the removal of my upper left jaw and inside cheek, half of my upper left pallet then to be filled with part of my thigh muscle and skin graft, anyway that was the fun part, (sarcasm)

 I then had to go on soft foods each time and both times, the second, major surgery in maxi facial, I had to learn how to swallow again and open my mouth as other sufferers can understand, in my case using a Thero bite, it is a bit daunting but very useful. One of the greatest difficulties was also finding something I was able to eat that would taste just a little bit digestible, good for me, affordable as I wasn’t working and something I can gain weight eating that my Dietitian and Speech Therapist would approve of.

I am fortunate to come from the Hospitality field for over 30 years and thought I could share my experience with cancer and skills as a Hospitality professional to assist others in getting through this very difficult stage of their life.

I have owned and operated 2 restaurants, one, a multi award winner. After my last Cancer operation, I was left with considerable loss of taste, ability to swallow, also an intolerance to strong citrus, mint dry mouth medications even pepper (mild). Being able to eat meat seemed out of the question as I couldn’t swallow it, I wasn’t going to let it beat me so I thought how I can still enjoy the cook at home foods that I know I would have eaten the way I used to so I started to search the web and got some ideas. Easy, just get the foods I know that are healthy and make them taste good.

I was able to make what would look undesirable at least taste good and affordable. I bought a stick blender, that’s the handheld, cheaper to start with about a $35 one and a blender 1000 power, bit dearer about $100 but you can get cheaper online, they are quite powerful, and started to see what I could come up with. These ideas will serve as a guide, and you may get inspired to come up with your own ideas or at least adjust the recipe to suit your taste. I have also used ingredients you can buy supermarket home brands as our taste buds usually won’t know the difference after radiology and chemo treatments. I also consider nutrition a very important factor and keeping up your weight is a necessity as well, as you dietitian and speech therapist will tell you. Most of my main meals will have a balance of Proteins, carbohydrate, and a veg, but all with gravy so assist swallowing.

I have found that there are some main factors that “Head and Neck” cancer patients, me included, mostly have in common is the need for food that will easily slide down your throat after swallowing, and didn’t require chewing, or little of, until you progress to a better situation. Being a cancer patient and now unemployed, I found that it is not cheap buying medicines, any utensils associated with the recovery are not cheap so I have tried to put together some food ideas that should be affordable or at least helpful. I will start with some ideas being with pureed foods then moving on (as I did while recovering) to foods that may require a little chewing but are still able to swallow. Each person will suffered different symptoms after I am sure as I did each time, so I have tried to include a little something for everyone. Gravy and sauces will play a major part in all dishes as I use that to enable the main ingredient to slide and be swallowed easier. Please enjoy some of my suggestions.