One of the most difficult issues for caregivers is how to get a cancer patient who is in active treatment to eat. Fluids and nourishment give your patient strength to battle their cancer. One interesting article said that if you feed yourself, you feed your cancer cells. That didn’t sound good to me, but it went on to say that healthy cancer cells are more susceptible to anticancer drugs than undernourished cells. Cancer treatments damage healthy cells in the digestive tract, which results in the unpleasant side effects that cause eating problems. They can also change the body’s ability to process food normally. My guest is Vonia Ickes, a registered dietitian with Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk, Virginia. She is a certified specialist in oncology nutrition.
