Hi been holding off asking this as its just so trivial but i got told not to eat shellfish .Just wondered my favourite thing ever is scampi and i know its prawns but as you cook it does that still count? There you go …told you it was stupid but ive got some in the freezer RIGHT NOW .
Sharon xx
I would think scampi would be ok, because its going to be piping hot when you eat it. Shell fish is not cooked, so think thats where the problem lies.
Hi Lisha
Just depends on your attitude to risk! I wasn’t given any diet dos and don’ts and happily munched on prawns, scampi, soft cheese and yoghurt all the way through chemo with no ill effects!
The ‘risk’ is in picking up a bug that could send you crashing. Personally, I think there’s more risk of getting food poisoning from your local take-away than from a well cooked portion of scampi prepared by you in your own home! Just make sure it’s good quality scampi!
Enjoy!
Dx
I was told there was no such thing as a stupid question in here.
Aren’t prawns crustations rather than shellfish? As long as you cook them properly I wouldn’t have thought there would be a problem. I went to a local oyster festival recently and had half a dozen oysters washed down with a pint of Guiness. It was only afterwards that I realised that I had done! Fortunately there were no adverse reactions!!
You may find that your favourite foods just don’t taste the same when you are going through chemo so you might want to save your scampi for when your tastebuds have returned to normal.
Debbie
Thanks everyone for replying and Supertrouper you are so right! I am in the week after my chemo at the moment and everything i eat tastes AWFUL which is why i thought i would love some scampi just dont enjoy anything but if i eat scampi this week i may well go off that too lol xx
Stargazerlily ,hope your sore throat is a bit better i have developed one today too .I had one on my first lot of chemo and now on my forth but no high temp .Its really annoying hope you are feeling a bit better soon xx
lisha what a lovely cat, I have two black ones like him/her!!
I was given no diet advice but I am sure that as scampi is cooked it would be fine. My motto is eat what you fancy as at times everything tastes awful or weird.
I am eating lots of cheese whic I don’t normally eat and Ryvita!!
Fi XX
We all get different advice. I was told definitely not to eat prawns when I had chemo even cooked ones! I’ve found a link that might be helpful:
nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000061.htm
Basically that says make sure any seafood is thoroughly cooked. You could just ring the chemo team or ask them next time.
I would agree though with Supertrouper. It might be better to keep favourite foods for one you’ve finished chemo. I went right off quite a few things after eating them during my chemo time - some I still struggle to eat 20 months later. The other thing would be to have them in the day or two before your next chemo when you’re feeling more like yourself so you really enjoy them.
With regard to the other risky foods above, I would strongly advise sticking to that. I developed neutropenic sepsis with an infection in the bowel - you definitely don’t want that.
take care and hope it goes well for you, Elinda x
Some people are told to follow a pregnant person’s diet (no shellfish, unpastuerised cheese etc) as our immune system is compromised - so if you were to eat a bad prawn if you immune system was 100% it can have bad enough consequences!! But with a compromised immune system you wont be able to fight off any nasty bacterias - so the results will be even worse.
I wasn’t told anything about diet and didn’t know about this until halfway through my chemo and ate prawns, sushi, muscles, brie, blue cheese, parma ham…! Nothing adverse happened to me, but always better to err on the side of caution and had I been told about it at the beginning I would have stuck to safer foods.
Deffo agree with Elinda and Supertrouper re your favourite foods - I’ve completely gone off foods I “treated” myself to the evening before or the day of chemo. Although I was never sick and only had a slight queasiness, the thought of some of my favourite foods now is enough to turn my stomach! Bleugh!!
x
I agree about it depending on your attitude to risk.
Personally I was spending more than enough time at the flippin’ hospital and didn’t want to be admitted with a rampant bacterial infection. Neither did I want any delays in my treatments. So, I followed all the advice I was given by the experts at the hospital e.g. avoiding takeaways, shellfish, runny egg, pâté, unpasteurised dairy products etc. I had chemo during the seasonal flu season and swine flu scare so I also heeded the advice about avoiding crowded places and being scrupulous about hand-washing during the phase in each chemo cycle when my white blood cell count was lowest. I was also a good girl and took all the meds I was given at the prescribed intervals. The oncologists, specialist nurses and chemo staff see thousands of people a year going through chemo and their advice is based on good sound experience.
The result was that I did not pick up any infections, I did not have any delays to my treatment and celebrated after my chemo ended by eating huge slabs of pâté on toast topped off with a couple of lovely runny fried eggs.
I have been told no tap water either, must be boiled and then kept in fridge to drink or make squash etc.
No tap water!! I was never told that either!! Ha! And I ate out and ate takeaways. Oh well! Good job I didn’t get poorly.
I didn’t know any of this until it was too late either! And I didn’t get poorly!
Thanks everyone you are so kind with your adfvice think i am gonna stick to doing as i am told and will wait till chemo is over.I am finding no 4 really difficult and cant even bear the thought of no5 chemo .Its the horrible fuzzy feeling of not being there and the thought of having to go through it another two times that i hate,so would hate to end up in hospital with an infection or have my chemo delayed i just want it over with.
Whoops hadnt finished lol. We went to Blackpool for a few nights before my last chemo and went in a harvester pub and i was gutted ,sat there and had to watch my OH eating scampi and also you could have a salad bar buffet type meal before hand but onc told me no buffet style food so had to have a bread roll:(.
My bloods were taking a bit of a dive last time so best not to risk anything. Thanks Ladies xx
P.s my cat is a male with a very original name (Sooty) Love him to pieces ,we also have another one called Douglas.Im sure they will eat my prawns for me xx