Dear Laura,
Sorry it has taken me a minute to respond. I am dealing with my own treatment circus.
I second on getting the ultrasound! It will make you feel better. I also had 12 weekly of Taxol and had little to no side effects.
Sorry you have the bad taste in your mouth :/ Does drinking water help? I drank a ton of water with lemon when I was on A/C. I used a lemon essential oil and it helped a lot.
Ok, food! Let me see if I can explain this better. The food thing is hard because there is a lot of conflicting reports, but below is what works for me and is based off of lots of research and info from my integrative onco and acupuncturists. They are actually running a study right now to see how methionine restriction affects TNBC patients.
It is hard for people to go full vegetarian right away if it is not something they are used to. What I did was slowly over time reduce the amount of meat I eat; at the beginning only a few times a week, now only a few times a month. In order to get the 46g of protein suggested each day I do a green smoothie in the morning with Hemp protein powder, always include a variety of nuts and seeds everyday as snacks or toppings and include grains and legumes like quinoa, millet, oatmeal, beans, organic tofu.
When I do eat meat/seafood, I eat a very small portion, about 3 oz which is about 1/3 cup. For quick reference it's about the amount that will fit in the palm of your hand.
SO to answer your questions, there is no clear answer Yes/No. My way for dealing with it has been to just limit the amount I eat and to 100% make sure when I do eat meat/fish, I know it is wild/organic/pasture raised/no antibiotic/etc. But you need to make sure you are eating other things to get protein so that you are not starving and unhappy. For reference, here is a PDF with general proteins of foods:
https://www.todaysdietitian.com/pdf/webinars/ProteinContentofFoods.pdf
Here are a few recipes that I love because they are quick, easy and allow for meat to be included. Let me know if you have any other questions!!
I used powdered ginger and wasabi paste. I also will add in any veggies I have on hand; celery, carrots, etc.
top w/ nuts, chia seeds, berries
I do half the cheese
That all being said, when you are on chemo sometimes you just need to eat what taste good to you. Don't be too hard on yourself!! You're body can't fight if it isn't fed. My husband used to set a timer for me to remind me to eat because I wasn't hungry most of the time, but I always felt 1,000 better after I did, especially when veggies and plants were involved.
xoxo
kati