My cousin will be visiting with me for a few days. She is a leukemia patient. I asked her what she wanted in the way of food and she said that food is touchy. She has severe thrush and lots of mouth sores right now. She said to fix whatever we wanted and she would work around it, she doesn't want any special plans made for meals. SHe won't give me any ideas except to say that spicy foods, even marinara and tomato sauces are out. So any ideas ladies?? Right now I am leaning towards alfredo...not spicy and soft. Any other suggestions out there?
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy and mashed turnip or sweet potato would be a good meal.
I had a terrible case of thrush after getting my wisdom teeth removed.
The extraction of 4 teeth was nothing compared to the pain of the thrush. I couldn't eat or drink anything that didn't make my mouth feel like it was on fire and stinging all the way down my throat.
I think you should take her advice and not plan anything special for her. She may not be able to eat anything right now.
Have some broth on hand, although sodium may sting. Have some yogurt and pudding. Maybe get out the blender and make her a plain vanilla milkshake or banana smoothie.
Don't be offended if she can't tolerate anything.
Thrush is extremely painful.
I'll keep her in my thoughts. I hope she'll be feeling better soon.
Best wishes.
bananas
apple sauce
chicken noodle soup
jello, non red kind, natural is better
yogurt
buttered pasta. boil the pasta with bay leaf and pepper to flavor the pasta more
coconut rice: make sticky rice with coconut milk....very tasty, nutritious and healing to the palette
steamed white fish
HTH!
broccoli /celery soup
blenderize everything--mashed potatoes, applesauce, veggie soup, scrambled eggs, fruit smoothies etc. Hope she feels better.
I've had thrush and mouth sores but not to the extent that your cousin probably has. I drank a lot of those drinks advertised as supplements for seniors. I think I drank apple juice. Most fruit juices are too acidic, tho. My cousin is undergoing treatment for cancer and has a very sore mouth. He eats a lot of soups. Last night he had a McDonald's hamburger and seemed to be alright with it. Clear or blended soups are good. You could blend what you're having using some broth or even water to make them thinner.
I would probably lean toward a low salt, corn-free, acid-free, wheat-free, reduced sugar diet. Probably a Low Residue Diet making sure that what you choose is cooked to be very soft without much (if any) chewing required. Bland and boring is going to be the way to go.
The reason I say corn-free, wheat-free and reduced sugar is because yeast thrive on corn and sugar. Even fructose, sugar from fruit, will feed the yeast. Nothing with gluten should be present in her diet, as gluten will feed the yeast. Yeast absolutely thrive on them, and the yeast colonies will increase dramatically if she has them. She shouldn't even use cornstarch baby powder in her underwear or shoes (just like a baby with a yeast diaper rash shouldn't use cornstarch baby powder on her bottom).
This is why she's saying that she didn't want you to fix anything special. She doesn't want you to have to change your entire family's meal plan. She may be bringing her own safe foods with her, but you could try to make sure that you ask her what she'd like you to add to your grocery list.
She should be able to eat plain yogurt as long as it's real yogurt, like Chobani. The live active cultures in it would actually eat the yeast and be soothing to her mouth. It would also help her gut flora and help if she has a yeast infection "elsewhere."
Potatoes are safe on a gluten-free diet, so they should be safe for your cousin while she has the thrush.
Rice is gluten free as well, but if you cook rice make sure it's not a pre-seasoned rice and watch any seasonings that you do add. Seasonings often have ingredients in them that contain gluten, which of course she shouldn't have right now. I would go with a plain rice and let her season it herself.
For the cancer patients in my life, I always fix potato soup, minus the jalapenos. The first patient had just had his esophagus removed and stomach rerouted. The potato was good for him. It felt good going down, AND it gave him a bit of strength. For a special friend with leukemia, I freeze sandwich bags of it for her to have a portion following each chemotherapy session, when she's too weak to really process food but needs some strength. It's also soothing in her mouth and going down and helps with nausea. If your cousin has any problems with her stomach, maybe use olive oil to mash the potatoes, instead of milk. (Instead of buying chicken broth, make your own...fewer additives and preservatives, and the taste is just fresher and..."bigger". I use turkey broth for my soup, and the flavor is delicious.)
Smoothies with soy milk and a little local honey. And frozen fruits.
