Digestive Cancers Europe Dietary Advice Booklet for Patients with Oesophageal or Gastric Cancer

Abstract

The challenge for those of us who have experienced oesophageal or gastric cancer and have had an oesophagectomy is how to ensure we have adequate nutrition, because dietary needs change radically during the entire cancer journey. There is a dearth of self-help books specifically targeting people with oesophago-gastric cancers especially during the long period of recovery after surgery. After my own oesophagectomy, though I received regular dietary advice on how to manage food and drink, I could not find a comprehensive guide such as this to support me through the ordealof pain and nutrition difficulties. Each patient seems to tolerate and react differently to food intake,which can significantly affect their quality of life.When a patient is experiencing a plethora of symptoms and side effects of treatment, it is difficultto know what type of foods might help with which symptoms. This booklet is an informative and a useful addition to address the problem of nutrition in individual patients, covering all aspects of dietary needs of patients, from pre-surgery throughto recovery, when boosting energy levels is crucial. It also deals with the most critical aspect of building and maintaining ideal weight both for pre- and post-operative management.This educational booklet developed by Digestive Cancers Europe is a significant milestone and will be invaluable to dieticians, patients and their family carers.