HROB and CCC

Yesterday, I was in the high-risk OB clinic or HROB. The first half of the day, from 8am to noon was spent in the gestational diabetes class. Which was actually pretty familiar from my two weeks spent in the diabetes education rotation. It was a much smaller class, of only three expectant mothers who were recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The class was extremely quiet, which made the first half of the class go by quickly. Because it got done quickly, there was about 30-45 minutes that there was nothing to do until the RD showed up (the RN taught the first half of the class). So it was suggested that I start going over a lot of the nutrition stuff...and I did! 


I started with teaching some general tips for gestational diabetes, ie: not skipping breakfast, incorporating fiber, keeping carbohydrates consistent, etc. After that, I moved on to reviewing the nutrition label (looking at serving size, carbohydrates, fiber), then reviewing a cheat sheet of carbohydrate content of common foods. It was my first experience of teaching a class completely alone. It was awesome how much more comfortable I was when someone wasn't watching me and...I guess even judging me. 


Then, today I spent the day in the Comprehensive Cancer Center, or CCC. Today was the symptom management clinic and we saw 6 patients. The idea behind the symptom management clinic is to help control symptoms of cancer treatment. These symptoms could be dry mouth, mouth sores, weight loss, muscle loss, taste changes, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, among so many others. The role of the dietitian in this area is to help the patient find ways to manage the symptoms. The patients always have questions, especially from a lot of the "fad" things they hear about cancer treatment and nutrition, such as the idea that sugar feeds cancer...


Sugar DOES feed cancer. But sugar feeds ALL CELLS. Including cells that help fight the cancer. The body runs on sugar, it is the primary energy source. Even if someone ate a diet composed completely of protein and fat, the body would break down some of the protein and fat to make sugar, or glucose. 


A lot of patients already come in restricting themselves completely of sugar - from refined sugars, breads, fruits, and sometimes even milk. This is exactly what a dietitian doesn't want, only because a cancer patients diet is completely wide open - high calorie high protein. When a patient says that strawberries are the only thing that applies to them - we suggest that they cover it in heavy whipping cream, chocolate sauce, and ice cream, and blend it together. The higher calorie, the better. Times of cancer treatment are not times for weight loss.


But tomorrow and Friday will be spent in the Brighton Health Center! More to come about that later...


43 days...