Nutrition

After my treatment today I met with the centre’s resident nutritionist. We discussed my diet and some of the things I could do improve it and help alleviate potential side effects later on.

I like to think I eat fairly healthily. I’ve been a vegetarian of sorts for 35 years, since I was a student. I eat fish and generally avoid most junk foods and adding sugar or salt to my food. I don’t think I drink to much but then I would say that wouldn’t I?

My body mass index is towards the upper end of acceptable or average. That’s good anyway but it turns out this could be an advantage as my treatment progresses because it means I have some “reserves” if side effects such as diarreah or nausea cause me to lose weight or eat less.

After we discussed my typical weekly meals, the nutritionist agreed that I was eating mostly the right things. But he did suggest I increase my protein intake a little. I probably eat enough protein anyway but it won’t be difficult to increase it a bit. We also agreed that I should have a blood test towards the end of my treatment to check the levels of various nutrients and vitamins etc. That seemed like a good idea to me.

He also recommended that I keep up with regular exercise such as cycling or walking but to introduce some weight-based routines as well. This will help maintain muscle during the treatment.

Day Nine

Tiredness: 0/10 – the slight fatique from earlier in the week has gone away for now.

Side Effects: similar to yesterday and day before.