Several parents whose children have finished treatment offer the following tips about how to handle the inevitable eating problems of children on therapy.

Doctors sometimes reassure parents by saying, “His appetite will return to normal.” Don’t be surprised if this does not happen until long after the most intensive parts of treatment are completed.

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Let your child control what type of food and how much he wants. In the beginning, any food is good food.

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Buy a juicer and use it every day. This was the only way we got any fruits or vegetables into our daughter. Make apple juice and sneak in a carrot. Sometimes we would make the juice, then blend it in the blender with ice cubes to make an iced drink, which we would serve with a straw.

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I solved my daughter’s salt cravings by buying sea salt and letting her dip French fries in it once a week. For some reason, that satisfied her and stopped her from begging for regular table salt at every meal.

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One magic word: butter, butter, butter. We would make Maddie peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a layer of butter on each side of the bread first. Milkshakes are great and Häagen Dazs® ice cream has the highest fat content. We also went to an “eat when she’s hungry” mode. It was definitely more relaxing.

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We tried Ensure®, Sustacal®, and Carnation Instant Breakfast®. All were basically the same, with Carnation® being much more palatable. The other two have a bit of a medicinal smell and taste to them. You can add calories by throwing it in a blender with ice cream, bananas, or strawberries. My other two non-cancer kids loved this stuff. Mandy would “sip” a tiny bit but would rather eat the spicy food: bologna, Polish sausage, or tomatoes drowning in Catalina dressing. Reese’s® peanut butter cups were breakfast for a long time (7 grams of protein!).

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There is reason for hope. My daughter ate almost nothing while on treatment. After treatment ended, she ate more food, but still no variety. She didn’t turn the corner until a year off treatment, but now she is gradually trying new foods, including fruits and vegetables, again. I’m glad I never made an issue of it.