Headstart charity for head and neck cancer patients in Kent and Sussex

Headstart charity for head and neck cancers in Kent and Sussex

Headstart cancer charity

Tips and information

Oral care is vital to head and neck cancer patients, right from the moment of diagnosis to completion of treatment, and then on to any further care that may be necessary. Dry mouth problems as a reult of Radiotherapy is called Xerostomia. Below is a list of complications associated with this condition:

Xerostomia - compromises comfort, compromises care.

Xerostomia is not a trivial condition; it appears to have marked and consistent effects on sufferers' day-to-day lives

Xerostomia also leads to severe and long-term.
oral disorders.

Dental caries, oral candidiasis and other oral infections.

Decreased nutritional intake and weight loss is a consequence which further compromises patient well-being.

The physical and emotional impact is considerable
and adds to the distress of the patient.

Artificial salivas help to provide relief of dry mouth. They should be used only in conjunction with standard
oral hygiene and mouth care.

Please speak to our health professionals about this condition as it can be a most distressing after effect of the radical treatment that you may have undergone. Click here to find products that are available for this condition.

Continue below to find out a little more about how Head & Neck cancer patients cope with their dietary needs.

Food Glorious Food explains the many problems patients encounter with their diets. It is just so important to get information from as many patients as possible as to how they managed their own diets. Your contributions may well be critical for the welfare for the many, many, sufferers like yourselves, who will doubtless go through very similar circumstances. So please no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, please send in your tips to us.

Publications

Get a Headstart Eating and Drinking

Below is a sneak preview of the new booklet cover by Brooke Quinteros

FGF

Much work has gone into this publication, it has been financed with the Silver Award we achieved from our Mouth Cancer Foundation application in 2011. Macmillan Cancer Support have thrown their weight behind this project, and of course we owe a debt of gratitude for Brooke's heroic efforts to have it published by her retirement. What a legacy to have left behind, not just for Headstart, but for all Head and Neck cancer patients in the UK and worldwide.

There will be some further information about this booklet very soon.

Much has been written and spoken about the impact upon quality of life for a person diagnosed with head and neck cancer. Quality of life surveys undertaken worldwide repeatedly show that the main problem is a temporary or permanent damage to the ability to eat, drink or swallow.

Where better to seek advice about what helps and what does not than straight from the mouths of head and neck cancer patients?

In 2005, most of our Headstart members completed a questionnaire providing information which forms the backbone of our book. This in turn inspired members to share their personal accounts of their experiences in coping with eating and drinking difficulties.

The result is this simple, free 100+ page booklet packed with ideas and experiences from patients and carers. Just as each individual is unique,
so will be their illness and treatment regime and thus their experience. Hence, some of the contradictions in advice. Often there appears little concrete, straight-forward advice to give to a patient. Much is trial and error and always perseverance.

Download the free booklet here (pdf, 1.69Mb)

NOTE: A revised version of the booklet is on the way, with additional materials and some corrections to grammar and spelling etc!

If you have any feedback or comments on the booklet, please let us know.

This month's food tip.

An old favourite of mine. Add more cream and butter if you would like, be generous, and the jams. I have lots of them from fruits I collect on walks, so smother the bread with it to make it as moist as possible.

Bread and Butter Pudding is one of the easiest puddings to make, take a look at this Bread and Butter pudding recipe and you'll see why. One of the best things about a bread and butter pudding is it is a great way to use up left over white bread. The same recipe will also make a Panetonne bread pudding, or ring more changes with croissants or brown bread.

The method is the same whichever bread you use. If you want to be really decadent, then smear the buttered bread with a lot's of apricot or any jam you have to hand. Delicious.

Prep time: 20mins

Cooking time: 35 - 40mins

Ingredients;

50g / 2 oz soft butter

10 slices soft white bread, cut diagonally across or any of the other breads mentioned above

50g / 2 oz golden raisins/sultanas

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

¼ tsp cinnamon

350 ml / 12 fl oz milk

50 ml / 2 fl oz double / heavy cream

2 large free range eggs

25g / 1 oz white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract or paste )

Beat the eggs and sugar together well then add the milk and cream to it. Butter the bread generously, and spread on whatever jam you want to use. Layer it all up in a buttered dish. Sprinkle generously with the raisins/sultanas the nutmeg and the cinnamon. Finally pour over the well beaten egg sugar and cream mix and put in the oven at 175C or gas mark 4-5. I personally like it quite moist, so keep an eye on it after about 30 mins.

Enjoy!!!!!

Updated on 12.04.12

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