The nutritional needs of kids with cancer are higher than other children’s, yet kids on treatment often eat less food. In addition, damage to the digestive system from chemotherapy alters the body’s ability to absorb the nutrients in the food your child does manage to eat. As a result, vitamin supplements are usually necessary.

I gave my teenage daughter supplements of vitamins and some minerals. I also increased her vitamin intake by using the juicer every day. She always drank a big glass of fruit or vegetable juice, and I really think it helped her do as well as she has.

Vitamin supplements should only be given after consultation with your child’s oncologist and nutritionist. Overuse of some vitamins, folic acid for example, can make your child’s chemotherapy less effective. But providing other vitamins can make the difference between a pale and listless child and one with bright eyes and more energy.

Halfway through treatment, my daughter just looked awful. Her new hair began to thin out and break easily and her skin felt papery. I had been giving her a multivitamin and mineral tablet every day because her appetite was so poor, but it didn’t seem to be enough. I talked to her doctor, then began to give her more of the antioxidant vitamins: betacarotene, E, and C. I bought the C in powder form, which effervesced when mixed with juice. She really liked her “bubble drinks.” The betacarotene and E she swallowed along with the rest of her pills. Within a few weeks her hair stopped falling out, her skin stopped peeling, and she felt better.